Hello, This is going to be a short post. My son has been sick/home with Covid since Friday and I️ don’t have anyone to share the responsibilities with, so I️ can only work (and do everything else) in the two hours between his bedtime and mine. This isn’t to say caring for one sick two-year-old has been backbreaking work - just that I’m absolutely not attending to my art/career right now. And haven’t been very much for a while.
The quiet parts in between the posting and scheduling and sharing and producing, where your audience also sits back and waits...is part of the magic. Believe it to be true that taking time to nourish and water yourself and your family, is wildly relatable to most creatives living like you. We understand. We see you. And we are you. It makes the next edition or piece of work all the more anticipated, exciting and timely. We rock!
Writing from under water, up all night with one sick kid and a dog who loves a 4:00 a.m. party. I chose the safe road with golden handcuffs (sick time, vacation, pension) and wonder every day what's been stifled in the process. Being creative in this dead-inside economy is a risk and we benefit from your brave choice -- wish we could both move to a Scandinavian child care utopia but in the mean time sending you sleep-deprived and mildly demented good vibes.
Thanks, Liana. Aside from the practical logistics, juggling multiple important and meaningful priorities requires a fluid sense of self. Hard, but comes with the territory of being alive. We contain multitudes. I'm a big fan of your work. It's so intelligent and satisfying.
Both of me and my husband are academics which, while not strictly 9-5, does have the must-dos of classes, meetings, etc. I think in one respect you are onto something in that the equality between our jobs forces a kind of parity in care-taking in that whoever doesn’t have to be somewhere when our son is sick takes on the role of care-giver. But then there are those awful weeks like the one we had in February in which both my husband and son were both down with norovirus and I just had to cancel everything and cross my fingers that it wouldn’t come back to bite me later. I have worked (remotely) through two bouts of strep and one bout of COVID to make up for times I’ve had to cancel classes or meetings to take care of my son. I don’t have any answers. I will say that it’s only in the aftermath that I’ve realized that I didn’t have to worry about some of that lost time quite as much as I did.
thanks for sharing! i'm not a parent / have no idea what that's like, but I am an artist who is currently working full time and freelancing, finding it hard to have the time and energy to work on my own stuff..
the taffy life! i know it well. great way to describe the creeping tendrils of unconventional independent employment and creative life. may you find the guideposts you need, may you get to shirk the surprise obligatory potluck. can’t wait for your book, big congrats!!!
i truly empathise with your situation--my husband and I are self-employed and there is unclear distinction of work and private time. Thank you for sharing! Looking forward to your new book :)
Life will always get in the way for creatives no matter the financial circumstances or situations where you have professional help. The problems of life only get more complex...Remind yourself how much your fans admire and delight in the workings of your superb mind. This will keep your batteries charged. Thank you for the piece of writing where you wring out your soul, it makes me admire your more.
As a member of your audience, I say: Take off whatever time you need. I'll still be in your audience when you post again. The yearly price of admission is very reasonable. A bargain, even.
You're brilliant. I love your work and am grateful for it. You should take care of yourself (says the mom of 19-yr-old twins) so you can keep making it to make you and other people think more and laugh with this banana brained project we're all in. I hope your little one is better soon!
I’ve been doing that two hour after kid bedtime creative routine for a few years. It’s possible but exhausting. I hope your little one is well and back in daycare soon. I’m also excited for the new book!
The quiet parts in between the posting and scheduling and sharing and producing, where your audience also sits back and waits...is part of the magic. Believe it to be true that taking time to nourish and water yourself and your family, is wildly relatable to most creatives living like you. We understand. We see you. And we are you. It makes the next edition or piece of work all the more anticipated, exciting and timely. We rock!
Writing from under water, up all night with one sick kid and a dog who loves a 4:00 a.m. party. I chose the safe road with golden handcuffs (sick time, vacation, pension) and wonder every day what's been stifled in the process. Being creative in this dead-inside economy is a risk and we benefit from your brave choice -- wish we could both move to a Scandinavian child care utopia but in the mean time sending you sleep-deprived and mildly demented good vibes.
Thank you for saying/writing this, Liana. I feel it too.
Thanks, Liana. Aside from the practical logistics, juggling multiple important and meaningful priorities requires a fluid sense of self. Hard, but comes with the territory of being alive. We contain multitudes. I'm a big fan of your work. It's so intelligent and satisfying.
Both of me and my husband are academics which, while not strictly 9-5, does have the must-dos of classes, meetings, etc. I think in one respect you are onto something in that the equality between our jobs forces a kind of parity in care-taking in that whoever doesn’t have to be somewhere when our son is sick takes on the role of care-giver. But then there are those awful weeks like the one we had in February in which both my husband and son were both down with norovirus and I just had to cancel everything and cross my fingers that it wouldn’t come back to bite me later. I have worked (remotely) through two bouts of strep and one bout of COVID to make up for times I’ve had to cancel classes or meetings to take care of my son. I don’t have any answers. I will say that it’s only in the aftermath that I’ve realized that I didn’t have to worry about some of that lost time quite as much as I did.
Liana, I can send you healing light to give you a boost if you want. It's free.
thanks for sharing! i'm not a parent / have no idea what that's like, but I am an artist who is currently working full time and freelancing, finding it hard to have the time and energy to work on my own stuff..
the taffy life! i know it well. great way to describe the creeping tendrils of unconventional independent employment and creative life. may you find the guideposts you need, may you get to shirk the surprise obligatory potluck. can’t wait for your book, big congrats!!!
Well, too late for me. The did was done.
i truly empathise with your situation--my husband and I are self-employed and there is unclear distinction of work and private time. Thank you for sharing! Looking forward to your new book :)
Life will always get in the way for creatives no matter the financial circumstances or situations where you have professional help. The problems of life only get more complex...Remind yourself how much your fans admire and delight in the workings of your superb mind. This will keep your batteries charged. Thank you for the piece of writing where you wring out your soul, it makes me admire your more.
As a member of your audience, I say: Take off whatever time you need. I'll still be in your audience when you post again. The yearly price of admission is very reasonable. A bargain, even.
You're brilliant. I love your work and am grateful for it. You should take care of yourself (says the mom of 19-yr-old twins) so you can keep making it to make you and other people think more and laugh with this banana brained project we're all in. I hope your little one is better soon!
I’ve been doing that two hour after kid bedtime creative routine for a few years. It’s possible but exhausting. I hope your little one is well and back in daycare soon. I’m also excited for the new book!
Even if you feel like you aren’t, you are doing great and being inspiring. Looking forward to your new book!
When my kids were 0-3 it was some of the hardest years of my life. Now they are older and it’s better. Hang in there.