Whoa, it’s December, unbelievable.

What time really is in the end?

Hola, dear reader of mine,

It feels wonderful to write to you again; it’s been a while. The year is coming to a close. Again.

We moved in November (as I told you in the previous one), and it took some time to unpack and get used to the new space.

I hope your end of the year is merciful to you. As surprising as it is, I am arriving in the land of jingle bells very much intact. I suspect that it happened because I almost hit a burnout wall in October. It felt so bad and painful that I got scared and started to hit all the brakes before it was too late. I feel proud that I managed to escape really burning out. So please, please, if you feel you might have too much on you, drop stuff, I urge you. It really does work.

I look back at the year of 2024, and of course, it wouldn’t be me if I did no reflection.

Some recent snapshots

We entered our third year in immigration. It still feels like a mountain to me, this immensity of change. The intensity of the experience. I sit in front of a window in silence. Relative silence, of course, because I hear a bit of street noise and the sound effects of my neighbor's life. My son is in school, my husband is off on a work trip. I am alone, and I am working. It is December, but in front of me, I see a palm plant, and the sun is ridiculously bright. It is cold, yes, winter reached us here at the coast a couple of days ago. But there is no gloom, no snow. It is so weird. New Year’s Eve is approaching, but all the people care for is Christmas. I am not used to Christmas, as I celebrated New Year’s Eve most of my life.

Somehow, a writing chakra opened in me recently. I have written more over the last month than over the whole year, I think. I finally managed an introductory post on my Telegram channel—the only place where I write publicly in Russian. I have written my first guide, which I am going to sell online both in English and Russian.

I started to feel the nudge to write scenarios for my videos—can you imagine that? I even (it is still a secret) started dabbling in fiction writing. I don’t journal much, though, but words are bubbling in me. I am not sure what the reason for this flow is.

The first guide is also written, hopefully very useful for people. I only need to put the words into the layout. The second guide is already shaping in my brain.

My theory is that I am slowly starting to feel more at home here. So I am quitting survival mode little by little. I am not sure. But this is the idea. Mostly I am still very much aware that my life has been cut into two huge chunks, and there is still a lot to re-assemble.

The hot news is that I got back to photography. With the help of the wonderful Louise Stigell, I managed to rework my website and reintroduce myself. Check it out here. I am very proud of what I can offer and happy with how Louise helped me to show off my strong sides. I still need to work more on my website and upload more galleries with photos and lettering. But still it is something.

“How about your drawing practices?” you may ask. They are slowly happening. I don’t draw as much as I wanted to. But a very interesting half-year digital painting course is planned for next spring. I am a bit scared but also excited. I also plan to get back to painting canvases, as I have room for my studio with an actual door, and a very kind person donated me a standing easel.

Or, if you’d like to support my work on a smaller scale, you can Buy Me A Coffee.

Here comes the freshest and very talkative vlog for you. Just uploaded it, hot (cold really) as cakes.

What I enjoyed lately?

• I often have stuff the Louise produced on my recomendation section, this one is not exception. She just released an amazing video on newsletters for artists. And I find it very useful, supporting and inspiring. Give it a go.

• I cannot wait for my book bestie to visit me in December and January, and we plan a sweeping mighty readathon of 24 hours of reading. What I plan to do is to read ACOTAR by Sarah J. Maas. And I really want to film a vlog out of it, the example is from wonderful Leoni from Book of Leo. I just giggle so much while I watched the video.

• I am immersed into the world of Leigh Bardugo imagination and don’t really want to leave. Finishing Grisha trilogy, Six of Crows are waiting.

• Me and my son Lukas introduced our friends to the Rise of the Guardians animated movie, it was very sweet and lovely rewatch. So timely for Christmas season.

Sending you love and best wishes,

Vera