Wtf is this, anyway?

Welcome to another new thing I'm trying out and will likely abandon in about three weeks.

Seriously, I will be so proud of myself if I can keep this up. I feel like I've been trying to find my niche for my entire 42 years and I am at the point where I don't think I'll ever have one. I will get super into a new hobby (like weaving and yes I bought a whole loom and everything), and I will hyper-focus on it until I complete a project that I'm happy with, then lose all motivation to continue. Lather, rinse, repeat with linocut, screen printing, resin jewelry, acrylic painting, wreaths...

Vision

My vision for this platform is to share whatever it is I'm into at the moment, but in long-form format. I reallllllyyyyyy struggle with social media platforms and making 30 second videos that people see once and then never again. I also struggle with having to post everyday to please the algorithm. So I guess this is just a blog? But I intend to also post random pictures and videos. I'd also like to offer some yoga classes or guided meditations in the future that could lead to paid content like mindfulness courses of some sort. I do love the idea of being able to offer all free content on a platform like YouTube where the income comes from advertising rather than the consumer, but that requires a large following that I certainly don't have now and I'm not sure I'm consistent enough to build.

What I'm into at the moment

I'm currently getting a Master's Degree in SEL (social-emotional learning), Mindfulness, and Yoga through Breathe for Change. It's a fantastic program that offers a 200 hour yoga teacher training, a 300 hour teacher training, and now a Master's Degree which combines the first two trainings and a practicum course involving action research. I'm absolutely going to post about the action research as soon as I start putting it together. It involves mindfulness and meditation practice and a group chat on Instagram and everyone is invited to join! hint

My super deep special interest right now is the TCFAM- Tracie and Cheryl's family/community. I call this a super deep special interest because it feels more like an obsession than just a hyper-focused hobby and will last so much longer (see also The X-Files and Gillian Anderson).

I found a quote from a resource in the Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network from Kassiane: The way I love? It is deep. Autism is deep love. People write it off as a special interest or obsession, but even if it's not something I can excel at, I can excel at loving what I love, loving what I do, loving who I love. Autism is being able to be consumed by love and interest; it is giving 100% because it is an insult to the thing one loves to give any less. Autism is going big or going home.

In that sense, I fell hard in love with Tracie and Cheryl and the whole TCFAM. Everyone is uplifting, kind, generous, funny as hell, and so supportive. Anyway, if given the chance, I will talk about them non-stop, but I'm excellent at masking so I intentionally stop myself from oversharing. Just know that I want to talk about them non-stop. I'm certainly thinking about them non-stop.

Some recent art projects include watercolor painting and digital drawing. I'll let you guess who my latest muses have been. That's also one of the best parts of a deep special interest– finally having the motivation to accomplish projects. Honestly, if Tracie and Cheryl told me to keep up with this project, I would absolutely continue this until the end of time. I also like to workout using the Ladder app and sometimes I make videos of meals that I cook. I meal prep lunches on Sundays and like to share when it's something exciting. I recently saw someone on Instagram with interactive tattoos– she has a tattoo of a blank canvas on an easel and uses face paints to add art to her tattoo. That is 100% going to be one of my next tattoos and I'll post about that, too!

Next project

I'm about to start a crochet project and I'll share some process pictures. I have a book project that I just finished that I'll write about once it's delivered (it's a gift). I'll post about the action research that will include some cute graphics that I'm putting together in Canva. I'm planning to do some live watercolor painting for the TCFAM Gives Back weekend in Houston. And I guess I'll start knitting at some point since my Instagram story poll voted largely in favor of doing that even though I do not have the time (thanks Grace and Rhea for those votes).

Please stick around. Subscribe to the newsletter so you get an email when I make a new post. Or don't. I'm not for everyone.

~ SarahRou