Art Camp 2021

When things don't happen as you would have hoped, God has something better planned.
I couldn't really talk or write about this while I was going through it, but I was let go from my job at the start of the year. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn about and work with plants while I was finishing courses at community college, but then I was struck with a sudden now what?  Well, that's a good question. I didn't really ask myself that before I found myself in that situation. I didn't have a life plan or agenda to adhere to, I didn't even expect to find the last job I had, but I do have valuable skills and experience and I can find great opportunities if I just start searching for them again.

At first, I still left the house in the morning with no particular place to go, so I would find myself painting around town or drinking coffee at the beach trying to search for jobs on my phone. I was in a good and weird opportunity to really search for what I would like to do and where I would like to go with my twenty-something life, especially because I have taken things slow and have laid low at home over the years, looking for local opportunities first and avoiding the city. I was also in a camping mood because the only solid near future plans I had at the moment were camping reservations I had made last month, so I was art camping in my bedroom while I was on this "adventure."

I started a few more paintings for my portfolio, worked on my prayer life, and really asked God to help me discern the news and to lead me in my life situation. Because besides the insurrection at the capitol, impeaching Trump again, Republicans and Democrats "at war" with each other through their words, being fed opinions and conspiracies that affect how I felt for a moment about the matter, and media censorship and YouTube algorithms leading me to just turn off my device--besides all of that, I just need to find a job. Goodness gracious. Painting and camping in my room doesn't mean that I don't have my life together, it's just a coping mechanism while I'm in this grace period of figuring things out.