Tag Archives: anxious

Out of our Control

Watch oil painting “Dove in a Forest” come alive in about 2 minutes (time lapse)

Tonight I’m disappointed that the houses we contact a listing agent about are already spoken for, before we even get a chance. Listings have dozens of contact inquiries after being freshly posted. So, it’s discouraging and I have to will myself not to panic. It will all work out, this unexpected move that we were blindsided by. The housing spike will hurt us, but we’ve been through worse things and we can get through this.

There are times in life when there are things that are out of our control personally, and also world wide. When those days are upon us, it helps to think of the consistency and stability of seasons and nature. They don’t worry. The animals and plants grow and thrive, while the sun rises and sets and the winds storm and calm.

A dove in a forest- if we don’t see it, does it not give us peace? We can imagine it. We can choose to be peaceful instead of anxious. It’s difficult. I’m not saying I’m getting it right every moment because I’m definitely not! I’ve already had some snitty tantrums and weepy moments. I have to work at the calm.

Whatever you’re facing, may you allow yourself to be human. But knowing that it’s not healthy to let adrenaline-pumping emotions surge for too long, be a little less human, and more like a dove in a forest. There we are, just gliding through the cool trees on a sunny day.

Feeling Froggy?

See this oil painting of a tree frog come to life in about 1 minute (time lapse)

‘Tis the season- the tree frogs are back! I’d seen a few earlier, but they were hiding in the drawer of my potting bench or otherwise hunkered down. Tonight one has appeared as if anchored by suction cups to the patio glass door, which is what frequently happens during tree frog season. Lizards by day, tree frogs by night. The patio door is a happening place!

Are you feeling froggy? The music for this painting video gives off the vibe I’m talking about- just hanging out, being cool. Nothing gets us in a panic. That’s the attitude I’m taking tonight as I know we have to move somewhere fast, and we don’t yet know where that will be, or how much it will cost- only that it will cost a lot more than we’re currently paying because the housing market has spiked (both for buying and for renting).

I found a house today that is the most reasonable I’ve found yet (still about $200 more per month, but that looks good compared to the $500+ per month I’ve been finding!). It’s in the right location and it seems like it could be a good fit for our family. Since it’s hopefully only for a year, we can manage a bit of misery, so it doesn’t have to be a perfect fit- not that anything is ever perfect, but on the sliding scale of “almost” dream house to House of Horrors, I’m fine with it being in the middle. But the catch is that the house won’t be ready until June 21, and we must vacate the end of May.

So, I’ve asked the property management if they could please ask this home owner (where we are currently living) if we could extend our lease until end of June so we have a place to stay until the other rental opens up. She asked, but the owner wants to talk it over with her spouse, and will get back to us “asap”. Apparently ASAP means tomorrow or later because it’s now bedtime and there was no update. I must have refreshed my emails dozens of times today.

If we get permission to stay here for an extra month, the next step is to secure the new rental. So it’s not a done deal even if the home owner of this house says yes. Someone else may have already gotten the rental contract today while we are stuck waiting. I’ll hear about it soon, one way or another.

Meanwhile, I could fret or I could be like a tree frog. Sure, I don’t know where I’m going, or when, but I’m hanging out with my little green friend. I’m sitting here clacking away on the keyboard, talking to you from my computer chair that is close enough to the patio doors that I can almost reach out and touch the glass, while he’s suctioned to the other side. I wonder if he’s listening to me type.

I’ve chosen to give myself a break from worry and I hope you will too. Whatever your source of stress today, put a pause on your anxious thoughts. Racing from one manic thought to another isn’t sustainable. In these challenging times we need to stay strong. I hope you’ll join me in feeling froggy- just hanging out, being cool.

Keeping my Cool

See this oil painting of a Puffin come alive in 2 minutes (time lapse)

I felt a bit of panic, but I willed myself to keep my cool, as cool as this puffin. Today I was working on the new painting and at the end of the session I decided to compile the video footage I have thus far and I was horrified to see that an important chunk of the painting session was missing! It skipped from one part to another in a big jump. Oh no, no, no, no! It was an important part of what I hope will be a special painting.

But, no need to panic. Yes, it could have been a terrible incident that has happened to me in the past: I think I’ve hit the record button, but I’ve really hit the stop button from a session that was still running. Then, I paint while the camera is OFF, and then when I go to shut if off, my stomach sinks as I realize that it was never on! However, it was possible that the camera recorded the whole thing, but the clip was somehow missing from the video file. In which case, the footage was there. I just needed to find the clip. That could have happened easily.

And that’s what DID happen! Whew! I found the missing clip. All is well! Whatever your day was like today, I hope that you too were “puffin cool” even if there were some highly stressful moments. Most things are really not worth getting anxious over, especially if there’s a chance that it will all work out in the end.

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