Resistance | A fight I'm determined to win
a favorite poem, breakfast soup & daily drawing
ESSAY | Resistance
As I was tossing topic ideas around this week, one thing kept coming up. One thing that’s been so strong in my awareness I simply can’t ignore it. It feels relevant right now, standing loyally by my side day after day: Resistance. Resistance in my work.
I’ve always had the common attitude to live life with no regrets.. every part of my path has lead me to this moment and if given the chance, I wouldn’t want to change it. If however, IF I was to think about the final chapter of my life, there’s one thing that could cause gut wrenching regret if I let it. The thought, the possibility that I didn’t do the work I was meant to do because of distraction… because of resistance.
Steven Pressfield has an entire book about resistance and I’ve read it cover to cover multiple times and yet… I still find myself having to nudge and sometimes even push with everything I am against it.
I know I’m not the only one but I wonder to you, the brilliant talented artists around me, are you experiencing this the same way I am? I did so much cleaning and clearing this year and I still find myself reaching for my phone in the middle of creating. I still find myself trying to (impossibly) do all of my chores before my art.
This snip from The War of Art by Steven Pressfield relays the hope I feel right now:
Resistance and Procrastination Part Two
The most pernicious aspect of procrastination is that it can become a habit. We don’t just put off our lives today; we put them off till our deathbed.
Never forget: This very moment, we can chance our lives. There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny. This second, we can turn the tables on Resistance.
This second, we can sit down and do our work.
The number one thing that helps me continuously move forward is setting a 25 minute pomodoro, putting my phone in DND and going for it.
Today I make a vow, a vow to never stop pushing back against resistance. A fight I’m determined to win one pomodoro at a time.
ART | Photography, Poetry, Collage, Music, Documentaries & more
It’s not often that I pick up a book and know in an instant that I need to read it. However, that’s exactly what happened when I picked up Instructions for Traveling West, a book of poetry, by
.I was an hour away from home connecting with the local artists in Ely, MN. I saw there was a bookstore just off main street and per usual, wandered in. As soon as I got upstairs I noticed that this space was definitely my vibe. Many of the books I saw lining the shelves also stare at me from my personal bookshelf.
First stop poetry. I strummed my finger along the bindings and there it was. As soon, and I mean as SOON as I touched it I knew it was the treasure I was looking for. Here’s a favorite:
Mangos
My mother was allergic to mangos.
Even peeling them made her throat thick
and her hands swell. I never understood
why she let me pull them from the tree
and carry them into the house. The fruit
sweating like lungs in my palm. My god,
she let me slice them in the kitchen, the air
sticky with scent. A form of love, I think —
how she’d stand in the doorway and watch
me eat. Juice on my chin. Finding the fleshy
heart. Sucking the pit.
Joy Sullivan | joysullivanpoet.com
LIFESTYLE | Kitchen, Home, DIY & more
I have to laugh because last week I shared the most delicious oatmeal energy balls (they’re seriously so good) and then this week I had to put the breaks on because my body was like please no more peanut butter. At least I think that’s what it was saying. Either way I knew it was saying something because I was feeling bloated and lethargic.
In fact, ever since finding out I have Hashimoto’s Disease a year and a half ago, I’ve been trying to see how different foods affect my energy levels. I read a while ago that one of the best ways (I am by no means an expert) to figure out food sensitivities was the Autoimmune Protocol. If you read about it or know about it you’ll understand why I was dragging my heels on giving it a shot.
I finally got to the point where I was so fed up with the consistent fatigue and brain fog that I knew I had no other choice, I had to find the culprit. I started AIP last Saturday and after a few rough days things are starting to look up!
The biggest thing for me has been the food prep and not allowing myself to get hungry. I’m not a fun hangry person. When I found this recipe for breakfast soup, I knew that I would be able to make AIP work for 30 days.
Okay, I think that was the longest possible way to tell you about this soup that’s currently cooking in my kitchen making my entire house smell utterly delicious. Last week when I made it, I had everyone lined up with their bowls to taste it. It takes over 8 hours on the stove so it’s a commitment but we ate it for days! I just made my second pot yesterday. AIP or not, this is a new staple!
MANA STUDIO | Updates From My Studio
I just had one of the most creative weeks I’ve had in months. >Squee< Writing (thank you very much for the accountability) and… drawing! I haven’t quite made it back to my collage studio but I’ve had my sketchbook out ever. Single. Day.
One of my favorite places to learn on the web is Skillshare. Back when I was working at Zappos.com in Henderson, NV, the Skillshare team came and did a talk at the HQ. It had to be circa 2012. As someone who has always been a fervent student, Skillshare was right up my ally. I’ve been taking classes on and off ever since and even learned how to shoot manual mode on my DSLR with Skillshare!
Anyways, I do have a point. This week I took some doodling classes and then I started watching all of Samantha Dion Baker’s classes during my morning walk. I love her art so much and her sketch journal really speaks to me. I look forward to continuing to play in my sketchbook this week. I’m doing this for me, completely for fun and it feels really really good.
You can use my (affiliate) link for a free month of Skillshare if you’d like to check it out!
I hope you have a wonderful week. Keep creating!
Thank you for reading Norden Morning. This publication is made without the use of AI - it’s all me, artist/mother in my late 30s living life and sharing about it from my favorite little corner of the couch.
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Pomodoro! Piragis books in Ely! Pressfield! Procrastination! We walk similar paths.
I love that Mango poem, thank you for sharing! And about procrastination, I totally understand. I think sometimes as artists we think we should want to make art, but I don’t think that’s true. I think every time we make art we enter into some kind of exchange with darkness, and that can be hard. But if we openly know and accept that, then maybe we won’t resist as much. We can just say, ok, I’m gonna enter the fire for the next hour, and I’ll be okay. Does this make any sense???! 🤣 🔥 🥭