For the last week, I have been absolutely obsessed with a new little-book project I’m working on. Fully, totally, marvelously obsessed. As in . . . can’t-stop-won’t-stop obsessed.

It started with giant (approximately 16″ x 24″) pieces of paper. All kinds of paper . . . sketch paper, packing paper, brown paper bags, even notebook paper glued together in giant sheets. For days, I painted and rolled and gessoed and drew all over these big pieces of paper.  Both sides. (Tom helped by drawing chemical structures all over the back of one of my sheets.)

And then I ripped them apart . . . into book-sized sheets. And folded them into sections for binding (book signatures).

             

And then . . . well, then the real fun and the real magic started happening for me. For days now . . . long, obsessive days . . . I’ve been playing with those book signatures and preparing them for (eventual) binding.

I’ve been doodling and collaging and stenciling and stamping and stitching . . . to bring the book to some sort of cohesive whole.

             

             

Next, I’ll be working on the cover and then binding all this together. (There’s a theme. Because of course there is. But I’ll explain that later. When it’s finished and will be more clear.)

Anyway.

I’m obsessed.

And in a way I never expected any art project to make me feel. (Because, y’know. Perfection and self doubt and paralysis and all that.) But here I’ve been . . . finding flow. In an art project. Like . . . I’ll go upstairs (where my “studio” is) to do something unrelated to this project . . . like to brush my teeth or put away some laundry or something . . . and I’ll find myself mindlessly wandering into my “studio” space . . . where I “come to” an hour later, completely immersed in my doodling and gluing. Which I didn’t intend to do right then!

This has never happened to me before in my life.

I just feel kinda . . . transported.

So. I’m not knitting (much; I did finish a hat recently that I’m only just . . . meh . . . about). I’m not reading much (although I did just listen to a really great audiobook . . . while doodling, of course ). I’m certainly not keeping up with my household chores (but who cares). And – best of all – I’m pretty much staying away from the daily outrage(s) (which are, of course, absolutely terrifying).

I hope you, too, are finding comfort in obsessions that help you tune out the noise that’s all around us now. And if you haven’t found quite the right obsession to help you do that, I hope you’ll keep looking. Because we all need a joyful obsession these days.

Keep looking for joy, my friends.

In 150 Characters or Less

Everything is on fire, but everyone I love is doing beautiful things
and trying to make life worth living,
and I know I don’t have to believe in everything,
but I believe in that.

— Nikita Gill