Life Update: time off & plans for the rest of the year | SHW #10

Hey there, and happy spooky season! 🎃

It’s been about a month since my last update and I wanted to share everything that I’ve been up to!

Time off work & traveling to Europe

I was feeling incredibly burnt out and overwhelmed by work and worked with my manager to take a month off. I took most of September to myself to rest, recharge, and reflect. In that time, I also traveled to Europe with some friends! We visited Budapest, Vienna, and finished in Munich. This was my first time traveling to Europe and I loved being exposed to a new environment and different cultures. Hungary, Austria, and Germany all border one another, but it’s incredible how different the history and people all are in each country.

Here are some photos from my travels!

I love traveling with friends, but it’s also exhausting for me to be around so many different personalities. Thankfully I had a few days after my trip to decompress and prepare for returning to work. Though truthfully, this is the part I had been dreading.

Full-time work

I’ve been stuck in a state of confusion about my job for quite some time. I’ve been saving up so I can take an extended break and focus on my art and other things I enjoy. I’ve saved up enough to take off for about a year, but I’m constantly talking myself out of doing it! I’ve gotten so used to the comfort of receiving a regular, bi-weekly paycheck that more than covers my needs. It feels slightly stupid to give that up, but it also feels slightly stupid to keep forcing myself to do something that drains my energy when I technically don’t have to.

I’m still swirling in a state of confusion about this, and I don’t like to take big leaps from that state. Something I’m starting to learn about myself is that if I’m feeling very emotional about a decision, it’s best if I just do nothing and wait for clarity to come. I’m not going to force or push myself down a particular path. For now, I’ve decided to stay put in my job for the remainder of the year or until some new information comes in that can help me with my decision.

Art & business

In the meantime, I’m planning to make some shifts in the way I create and share my work with you! I’ve been feeling a bit bored and slightly inauthentic with the way I’ve been sharing my work online. My content has been feeling formulaic and strategic and I want to share in a more raw, personalized way.

That's why I'm planning to share more frequently here! I want this blog to contain more of my personal, free-form thoughts. I’m planning to send a little newsletter every week just talking about some of the things I’m experiencing and working on. I’m hoping some of it is relatable and we can chat about it in the comments!

Overall, I’m wanting to share more of who I am and what I'm up to. I’m much more than just the art I create, and the art I make is largely a reflection of my personal experiences. I think sharing those experiences will provide some context for where my art is coming from.

I’ve also closed my print shop! I have some exciting plans for how you can get your hands on my work later on this year! I’ll keep you posted.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you have an amazing week! 💙

~Rachel