You know what I don’t need? Probably one of the same things you don’t need! Another obligation. But not all obligations are equal, obviously.

For the last year-and-a-half (with no sign of abating) I’ve been letting obligations smother and strangle my writing and art. It’s not been pretty.

Well, for a while, I’ve been a free subscriber to Wendy Mac’s substack. And like a lot of other things I subscribe to, I haven’t been reading it much. (Y’all, my reading is so suffering these days. Newsletters and books are languishing around here.)But when I did manage to read an issue, I felt inspired (painfully so). What if I just subscribed and signed up for her 30 Days of Drawing?

I’m not going to win any art awards, but each assignment is meant to last only ten minutes. After ten minutes, it’s pencils (brushes, pens) down. Sometimes I went 12 minutes and sometimes I dithered, but I’ve stuck to it and I feel better for taking part and seeing what everyone else is doing. Some people are amazing! Some are not sticking to the ten minutes, and I have to remind myself that comparison is the thief of joy.

Now I’m going to figure out what to share over on Patreon. My novel-in-progress crashed, but I’m nursing it back to health. Slowly.

That’s it for today. Are participating in any challenges to start your year? I’d love to hear about them! And I send you much good luck.

And hey, if you’re in southern California or anywhere near fire or other natural disaster, I hope you are safe. Take care and thanks for reading.