Dizzying Highs and Terrifying Lows: Summer Update
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Hello friends, I'm sipping on my almond milk cold brew in my plant-filled neighborhood cafe, imagining you all out there moving the through the complexity and beauty of your lives just as I am over here. I missed writing to you and felt drawn to share a summer life and creative update. I recently got back from a trip to Antigua, Guatemala which was filled with romantic ruins, erupting volcanoes, many friends old and new, unsettling reminders of colonialism, lots of dancing, and swimming in small pools that felt more like fountains with shrines and waterfalls. While I adored the adventure, it was also bookended with getting sick enough that I had to visit the urgent care and get IV hydration the day after I arrived on my vacation and then getting Covid on my way home. "Dizzying highs and terrifying lows!" as I love to quote from a vintage 1950's movie poster I saw decades ago and just fits so many life situations. Both times that I was sick, the veil felt very thin. My access to the physical world and being an active agent within it receded into the distance. Simultaneously, the inner spirit realm felt so alive and vivid. Diving deep into prolonged meditations was easier than ever. I simply opened a door in my mind and an infinite, soft stillness welcomed me. My dreams became even more vivid and healing. I visited an enchanted cottage with many windows overlooking a gently flowing river, ancient oak trees and cascading waterfalls. The bookshelves were lined with magical tomes, scrolls and colorful healing potions in glass bottles. I read some of the scrolls and each one contained a special, synchronistic message just for me. The world of the cottage felt alive with consciousness and love. Unlike many of my lucid dreams where things can still slip sideways into the shadowlands, this place felt stable and permeated with an unchangeable goodness. I felt some sadness that I couldn't harness all the inspiration of my adventure and dive into my creative work when I returned home. Instead, I was in a cocoon, hibernating and dissolving, both at peace and impatient to be free like the new butterfly flying into the world. As always, it was easiest when I embraced the hidden magic of my state rather than resisting and wishing it had turned out differently. I consciously tried to cultivate compassion for the very human part of me who just wanted a different, easier reality in that moment. I mean who wouldn't want to feel healthy, vibrant, creative and engaged in the world? So yes, I tried to muster even more compassion for the part of me that felt pummeled by chaos, instability, and discomfort. Gratitude for the magic of my life beat alongside these pangs of unfairness and self-pity. So many paradoxical experiences can exist simultaneously within us. They don't cancel each other out. We can believe something from the bottom of our heart and doubt it at the same time. We can embrace the magic of the moment and resist and lament the pain. Compassion makes room for all of this, even for the part of us that feels critical, judgmental and not compassionate. As a fellow human being, I am sending you all some love and compassion right now for your dizzying highs and terrifying lows. Whatever you are going through right now, no matter how big or small, how intense or how chill, may you conjure your own version of my inner enchanted, love-filled cottage for solace and healing. CREATIVE UPDATES:2025 Spirit Cats CalendarI started envisioning and crafting my 2025 Spirit Cats Calendar and wanted to give you a sneak peak of the cover. Mostly likely there will be 6 Spirit and Witch Cats from my oracle decks and 6 new cats. Now that I have recovered from Covid, I am painting away. Keep your eye out for my 2025 Calendar Pre-Sale in late August or early September. I will have discounted bundles with brand new stickers and there will be early bird specials and free gifts! Dream Cat Enamel PinHow cute is this little dreaming meow? I have been toying with idea of transforming this drawing into a hard enamel pin and just received these samples. They are perfect! I am in love with these elegant, celestial kitties. I will be doing a pre-sale of my Dream Cat Enamel Pin alongside the 2025 calendar in August/September. I will also have a few of these available at CatCon in Pasadena, CA where I will be vending on August 3rd and 4th. Visit me at Booth #12. CatCon August 3-4, Pasadena, CaliforniaI hope to see some of you at my Booth #12 at CatCon. Please say hi if you stop by. I will have exclusives and specials that aren't available in my online shop. It will be my first year at CatCon and I am excited to be a part of such a magical kitty-loving event. Wander Kittens Mini DecksMy Kickstarter page is all set up for this project that will launch in September. You can sign up to be notified when I launch right here. I am also planning a writing retreat in NH this August to polish and complete the poetic incantations and reflections prompts that will be on each card. If you missed some of my previous updates, visit my Wander Kittens Decks page to learn more about this project and collection. May your full moon this weekend be a gateway into magic and wonder! Much love to all of you out there, Nicole
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