Thanks for joining me! I’m Sora Cottonwood, and this is a space where I write about what makes me happy: memories, nature, and art.
“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”
— Nathaniel Hawthorne
I love art. I love drawing. But I’m not so good with keeping up my hobby. It’s just so much WORK to create a nice-looking finished product that I am proud of. Life just always seems to get in the way. Work, hanging out with friends, or just my own laziness; something always prevents me from consistently practicing and improving upon my drawing skills. It was easy in high school when I took my first art class, because you either turn in a finished product or you get an F on that assignment… I want to get better, though. And that requires accountability. So! My solution is to make a promise to myself (and my readers, if I have any) that I will complete a 100 Theme Drawing Challenge that I found online – a list of 100 topics that I will go through one by one, using each topic as the title of a drawing with a total of 100 drawings at the end. I am a slow, rather meticulous artist however, so bear with me. My goal is to complete one theme drawing each week, more or less. They certainly won’t be perfect, but as long as they get done I will be happy. Some weeks I’m sure they will be more like quick sketches rather than fully-shaded pieces. For this project I will be using my small black sketchbook that I’ve had since high school (proof of how seldom I draw these days). I hope to use this project to improve my drawing skills, get my body used to practicing this hobby on a more regular basis, and maybe even fill up the rest of the sketchbook! I want this to be a regular part of my life again, because making art makes me happy. Wish me luck!
Tick tock tick tock tick
Goes the pulse inside my head,
Like a ticking bomb.
Waiting patiently,
Basking in my helplessness,
It poses to strike.
Food nor pills will help.
Comes and goes as it pleases.
Swallows my head whole.
The pain climaxes
Into the greatest story
Ever to be told.
Leaving me behind,
Finally able to rest.
Broken, but healing.
As I fill out my mother’s birthday card, I remember this time last year…
I was in town visiting for her birthday. A month prior, I had applied and gotten accepted to a graduate school research position that would pay me to attend the school and conduct research there. I was extremely excited, to say the least. I was finally going to earn the degree I needed to obtain a career in my field!
So there I was, the last day of my visit, handing her the gift I had bought her. A cooking pan she really wanted. But the look on her face as she read the card that told her I was going to grad school was worth more than any other praise she could have given me.
Most of us try our best to make our parents proud, I think, but the older I get, the harder that seems to be. That day was one of the few where I could stand back and bask in my own accomplishment.
Love you Mom. Happy Birthday!
Fun, Sun, and Emotion 