This week I took some time to reflect and take stock of a year like no other- a year filled to the brim with Good, Bad and Ugly.
THE GOOD
Radici grew significantly this year, reinforcing my deeply held belief that art and creativity are an essential need for us as humans, ESPECIALLY when things get tough.
- Nearly 40 newsletters went out to you all, in our now several thousands strong community. Most are archived on my blog, if you are interested in catching up on any you missed. And thanks to this amazing community, Radici Studios’ store has not only survived, but has more than doubled in orders this year. Thank you so much for prioritizing art and a small, woman-run online shop.
Two new public art pieces were created (requiring many late nights!), and though I didn’t get to travel abroad, my art did!
- And the accomplishment I am perhaps most excited about is the launch of several, new Radici online classes! I’ll be leading a second session of Raising Anti-Racist Kids through Art with all new activities, running Feb 9th – March 16th. Shoot me an email to get on the waitlist and be the first to know when enrollment opens in early January.
THE BAD
It was also a year of grief and deep sadness. Besides all of the disappointment and smaller losses that defined this year, in April we lost my kind hearted, wonderful, father-in-law- a man who could out dance us all. Not being able to grieve in person with family is a secondary loss I’m not sure we will ever fully recover from. Grief is meant to be shared in person. But we hold on to what we can- like this art project my daughter and I created with my father-in-law that resulted in one of our most treasured memories.
THE UGLY
And there was a lot of ugly: ugly crying, ugly under eye circles, ugly fashion (or lack thereof), ugly meals, ugly parenting, ugly messy house, ugly screens, ugly scenes of brutal violence on social media and in the news, ugly smoke filled skies, ugly leaders making ugly fatal decisions.
It’s also true that the bad and the ugly made the moments of beauty and soul shaking kindness sweeter than any year I can remember.
So here’s to it all. To all the mess of it, the beauty, and all that’s yet to come.
Happy holiday season to you all. (Below is the tree we made from the pile of sticks (see last post)
