I was on a quest for years to find a word for the ‘opposite of anxiety.” I was hindered by the fact that I couldn’t remember ever feeling something equal and opposite to the fear that I had with me all the time, so I didn’t know if it even existed. Was there something with more gravity and oomph than just not anxious?
I wrote and wrote, asked friends and two different therapists. My idea list had words like, “safe” and “happy” and “relief” but all of them felt passive compared to the gripping in my gut. I could imagine them blooming once anxiety left, but they didn’t seem to have their own power to press back against the surges of fear. I wanted an antidote.
Then one day, I was writing the monthly patreon letter and out of my hands came this: play is the opposite of survival mode. I tried to write the rest of the letter, but nothing came, so I wrote these seven words nice and big and signed my name. It changed my life.
Since then I haven’t been able to stop making art about it.
We are doing another run of prints of the new series and tomorrow (Sun, 12/10) is the last day to order. I anticipate that these will arrive to US addresses by Christmas! SHOP PRINTS
Two more bits of news:
❄️ The Patreon holiday gift (a $15 shop credit) just went out to everyone on a reward tier (any tier with a print and/or sticker). It's valid through the end of the month! If you'd like to access it, you can join/upgrade to any reward tier here.
❄️ On the topic of patreon membership, starting today through the end of the month annual memberships are on sale for 15% off. They were already the best deal and now they're even better. You can pay once up front at a major discount and then get art in your mailbox all year long.
They also make a wonderful gift - you just make an account in your loved one's name with their shipping address. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions! CHECK IT OUT
I hope your December is off to a cozy start. We're taking it easy here today. Little Miko is asleep on my lap. It's dark even in the middle of the day lately -- there's an "atmospheric river" above us (meteorologists are poets!) and it is letting itself loose. I'm reading In the Dream House at night, listening to Lucy Dacus around the house, and rewatching Ted Lasso while I pack art orders. I wrote recently about how we are making a new past for our future selves with the all the ordinary things we do each day and this idea is helping me to keep a sense of presence. These moments matter.
Sending love -
Brit
ps. If you got preorder items (prints, notebooks and original paintings, all of which are now available for regular orders), everything shipped yesterday and is on its way to you! Here are two of the four trips we took to the post office, making it there three minutes before they closed 😅
BROWSE ART - holiday stock of stickers, pins and notebooks ends soon
JOIN PATREON - monthly art in the actual mail :)
EASY DOES IT - paint with me