what are we doing right now?

last updated: september 4th, 2024!

to start off, we just turned 25 on the 3rd of september!

a lot of the things are the same, though - we are still unemployed... but, we are making progress towards doing what we love full-time! we recently made a lot of prints of our artwork, which we are selling at a local art gallery and an indie bookshop. we also got accepted for an artists' bursary which was supremely helpful.

we do a lot of performance poetry nowadays. like, a lot. we go to 3-5 different open mic nights a month, and have a lot of local poet friends.

of course, since we perform so frequently, we also write pretty often. lately, the muse ariadne writing club has been a source of a lot of the inspiration. we also paint very often! acrylic and palette knife is the best!

we have also been buidling our photography skills by going to a photography club for young adults every week. there's currently an exhibition on (at the same gallery as the one we're selling prints at) that's about being lgbt+, and it's made up of work made by that photography group, so we're very proud to be a part of that!

an exciting thing happening in the near future is this 48-hour artist challenge we got accepted for. it starts on the 6th of september - you get put into teams and have to make a multimedia performance thing in 2 days. we tend to work fast, so we're really looking forward to it!

we go to some art groups too, and recently started volunteering at an art group for autistic adults. that happens twice a month, and it's pretty chill. we also are probably going to start volunteering with a trans charity as photographers and peer supporters...

we recently decided that we're going to make a text-based game about our ocs! it's going to be a short interactive poetry horror thing, so hopefully not too much work, but it's still a big project that we have a lot of passion for.

to be honest, a lot of what we do is stuff we consider "work-related" and "productive", and we have an unhealthy complex about staying on that grindset. so we've been trying to allow ourselves to unwind sometimes, and just enjoy life. we do genuinely enjoy working, but there needs to be a balance, and when we find ourselves getting extremely stressed out about the idea of not working, we know we should be kinder to ourselves.

our wonderful girlfriend and her system have helped a lot in that regard. hanging out with her is really chill and comforting and just plain fun, and the way she loves us helps us love ourselves more. we started dating on the 5th of may, so things are still a little new, but it feels "just right" and it feels like wonderful magic.

okay, but what about media and hobbies? well, we really like to read books, and are doing amazing on our goal of reading 36 new books this year (so far we have 25/36). we mostly read translated (usually japanese) contemporary fiction. our goal to watch 24 new movies this year is failing miserably, though, as we only have 7... but we are determined to get there!

so, in conclusion, things are cool and fun as usual, and the opportunities to be creative are numerous and immense! as we try to seize the day, we have to remember to take time for ourselves too.

learn more about now pages here!