October ‘22 Check-In (Patreon)

Hey fam! Time to catch y’all up on the goings-on in Mollyworld - how the month went, how I’m feeling about it, and what I hope to do next.

This month, I completed the Emotional Resilience Program. Thanks again to everyone who donated or commissioned me so that I could enroll and get this treatment - I cannot put into words how profoundly my life has changed as a result. Life is far from perfect, but I feel capable of facing it, even on the worst days, and that is a big change from how I have spent the past 33 years.

Overall, October is the most productive and stable month I have lived in recent memory. I sketched quite often, spent time roadmapping and ideating for new projects, and juggled several more time-intensive commissions without losing my head. (I am considering posting WIPs more often, since most of those are still unfinished, but more on that in a minute.) I also saw enormous progress in my physical healing - I am getting better and better about maintaining body awareness and taking breaks before my nerve pain escalates. In turn, I can draw for a lot longer, and can stay relaxed while drawing much more easily. It feels amazing.

I also managed to make some non-art life changes that have really helped build my confidence. I’ve kept the dishes caught up for two weeks, something I’ve never done consistently in my life. While that might be a basic skill for most adults, in my life story, it was just one of myriad deficiencies I held up as proof that I was useless and unfit to survive. Now, though? I’m celebrating every victory, no matter how small or how overdue, and building on every success. Because of that, I know for a fact that this is just the beginning. I can do anything I set my mind to if I meet myself where I’m at and encourage my every step.

With that in mind, here’s a snapshot of what comes next:

1. I am still working through the existing commissions pile from the last year and change. This is difficult, as I have to bounce between them and taking on new work in order to keep food on the table. Because of this, I am currently looking for a reasonable part-time day job. My hope is that I can find somewhere that pays decently and doesn’t suck my soul dry every shift, so that I can narrow my focus to clearing the queue and improving my skills for a while. I definitely bit off more than I could chew back then, and the timesink is ENORMOUS for some of these jobs, but I’m a woman of my word and I want to see them done.

2.  I have a new, patreon-focused project in the works that I hope will be fun for everyone. The goal is to give you guys more involvement and a more consistent update schedule, while shaping the updates in such a way as to keep my ADHD ass engaged and challenged, too. I won’t talk too much about it yet, as I want to make sure it can stand up to the pressure of real life. But if all goes according to keikaku, I will be launching an interactive CYOA project in January.

-

That’s all for now, fam. Thanks for reading, and as always, thank you for your ongoing love and support. I feel so cherished and safe here.

Love y’all. Happy Halloween, talk soon!

-Mollypop