Hi First name / friend!

 

Melody here. WHEW, can you believe it’s a new year again? How do we feel about January?  I’m not big on resolutions and fresh starts this time of year, but I do love a good new year reflection. I’m not gonna lie, I am going into this year with a bit of trepidation, given what a wild ride the last several years have been, and how heavy and overwhelming our news and current events can feel.

 

But also, I’m trying to build a practice of noticing what is wonderful, and being less reactive to what is upsetting to me, because it seems like I have an opportunity to offer myself a little bit of peace each day, if I’m willing to take it.

 

These last few months have been a doozy! Perimenopause got me good last year, even though I was only 45. I found a great doc who actually believed what I said about my experience in my own body and blessedly started me on HRT. It went great at first, and then I hit a few bumps in the road, and then we made some adjustments, and then those adjustments really extremely didn’t agree with me. I hit the holidays feeling exhausted and super depressed and my brain told me I didn’t like anything anymore and maybe (probably) I was dying. So that was fun. After sitting in bed a lot, doing as little as possible, drawing sometimes, watching TV shows (how was Jury Duty soooo good?), reading a couple of books, sleeping a ton, and finally adjusting meds again, I’m beginning to feel much better.

I’m trying not to apply my recent mental state to any feelings about the new year. I gotta stay in the moment, taking it one day at a time, or my brain will offer up topics like “Wait, Are My Kidneys Okay?” or “War” or “Super El Niño!” or “The Election”. For my sanity, this seems like a good moment to focus on gratitude for things that have gone well and things I’m looking forward to. So here goes.

I’m really grateful for my family. Boy do we struggle. We are not always the best at family-ing. And yet, I love them! It would really tickle my ego if our natural habitat was everyone piled together on a comfy sofa, happily arguing about which show to watch, having just cleaned up the kitchen together from yet another delightful family dinner. 

 

That has never happened. Not one time ever. You know what I’m grateful for? Reaching new levels of understanding that we all have different needs, and we don’t owe anyone the appearance of anything. Some seasons are harder than others, and I think we’re all doing our best! I have been having a wonderful time teaching my son to drive; I enjoy his calming presence and his absurd sense of humor. My husband is my nightly dinner date and 19 years in, his jokes still make me laugh. I watch my daughter with wonder as she teaches herself art and music and carves out a creative path for herself in this world. I didn’t come from a happy family, and I might have romanticized what it means to have one. I’m very grateful for my family just as they are.

 

Okay, something that has been truly life-changing for me has been racing cars these past few years. Last November, I got my instructor’s license, and will have my first student (my husband, haha!) this weekend. And then my enduro team has races coming up in February and March. Super-lucky me! 

I’m so grateful for the role racing has played in my life; it has taught me alllll the lessons. Can I do it just because it’s fun? No silly, that’s not how my brain works. I do it because it shows me I can do hard scary things. It forces me to trust myself. It forces me to mess up and feel embarrassed and not die of shame. It forces me to wait patiently as I slowlyyy get better at something. It’s given me rich friendships with people I wouldn’t have crossed paths with otherwise. And most importantly, it offers the most salient moments of joy that I have probably ever experienced (joy + adrenaline is a wonderful combination). 

 

On a quieter note, I’ve really been enjoying drawing recently! When I’m drawing for fun, I mostly draw flowers, and I like my latest drawings quite a bit. For most of 2023 I was bored with how my floral style had evolved and I wasn’t sure what to do about it. It seemed pretty obvious to just draw things differently, in a way I liked better, but every time I tried, my attempts fell flat. I finally realized that over time, I had made a bunch of rules about how my flower drawings needed to translate to fabric and be useful for my work, and shocking surprise, the joy drained out of my practice. When I didn’t feel like doing much else last month, I sat in bed and drew, and the flowers added some cheer to my quiet days. I think I drew more in December than I did all year. 

Goodness, I’m grateful for my work. I am SO lucky. On days when I feel like my job is sending emails and herding cats, I try hard to focus on the big picture: I work with lovely people, and in partnership with a supportive, stable company. The RSS designers and I have been together over TEN years and we still really like each other! Our studio staff are delightful; I enjoy their company every single day. I can’t believe I get to put art on fabric. Every collection that we will introduce in 2024 was designed ages ago (last year!), and like a damn soothsayer, I can already see how excited you’ll be with what we’ve made you.

And that brings me to you! I’m grateful that I have this space to connect with you, and that you’ve been so supportive of everything we’ve done in the last 10+ years. You’re the best! In my art print sales from last year, I realized that you all really like my juice box print, (like, way more than I thought!) Who knows, maybe we’ll see it on fabric again one day. Do not ask me questions I can’t answer. In the meantime, I made you a juice box printable that you can cut and fold into a real life paper juice box. What can you do with it? It would make a really fun box for a small gift. Mine looks cute on a shelf. 

 

Enjoy, and happy new year!

Last but not least, the winner of the Sugar Cone giveaway is Maggie Hendrix! For her fun New Year’s resolution, she said she wants to try every taco in the Chicago Tribune’s list of best tacos in the city. Congratulations and best of luck to Maggie on this noble quest! And Kim thanks everyone who entered, shared their hopes and dreams for the new year, and wrote the kindest words about the collection.