Here is the newest page in my daily art journal, which I finished last night.

Entitled “Keep on Reaching,” it was inspired by some experiences I’ve had this week, and some highly meaningful connections I was fortunate to make with a few treasured friends.

This past Sunday, I was in a bad place.  I wasn’t feeling optimistic about the coming days, and was suffering from quite a bit of anxiety about it. I was exhausted, both physically and mentally. I wished so badly I could escape. At one point, I remember thinking to myself, I wish I were somebody else.

As the week rolled along, I discovered that at the moments when I most needed love and encouragement and a listening ear, all I had to do was reach out, and a friend was there, holding out her hand to me with a smile, carrying exactly what I was desperately seeking.

I was also granted multiple opportunities to do the same. I reached out my hand and passed along what I had–and what I’d been given–to others in need. In those experiences, I realized something crucially important: as much as I might have wished to be someone else on Sunday evening, the only person who could have extended that hand to those individuals in those particular moments was me.

We all go through rough patches in our lives. At times, we all feel helpless and in need of help. But we can always reach out our hands–to our family, friends, neighbors, colleagues–even to complete strangers. As long as we keep on reaching and keep on being there for one another, nobody will end up empty-handed. We can all make it through this life, as long as we stick together and watch each other’s backs.

This page was created with acrylic paint, spray ink, pigment ink, a drywall tape stencil, rubber and found-object stamps, old book pages, Washi tape, rub-ons, typewritten text, pens, and a magazine image.

Thank you for stopping by!