Hello Friend

It's tough all around but we keep going.

Feb 01, 2026

In the middle of our second snowstorm in two weeks, with four inches of ice (the snow froze from last week) covered by over four inches of new fallen fluffy snow, I sit typing in my farmhouse in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

The outside world is quiet and muffled, blanketed by white, while my inner world is Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

I am overthinking all of the things, when not trying to encourage my children to finish all of their million and twenty virtual learning pages, and log their reading time and sled time for physical activity. *School was closed all week*

Still, inside my head, I am playing the new Harry Styles single. I read and watch the horrific news, text with friends and family, worry about all of my body pain, add more to the to-do list, rage against the machine, while oh yeah, remembering work- that’s a thing too.

I thought being stuck inside due to the weather would be the perfect time to write, but turns out, I should have known better.

This is life, and it is in these times that feel isolating and overwhelming at once, doing the art and making the thing is most important. This is a reminder to myself, and to you, if you need it.

Try for fifteen minutes. Maybe it will lead to more, maybe you’ll be interrupted and have to walk away, yet again. Do it anyway. And if it doesn’t work today try again tomorrow. Keep going. We need the process of art and we need to witness the art.

And maybe delete Instagram, or TikTok, or whatever you scroll accidentally that steals your time.

Sincerely,

Aunt Jessey

*** mom of three, artist, writer, home cook, terrible housekeeper, late diagnosed adhd, probably actually audhd, and to top it all off- hypermobile as well ***

If you’d like to donate to storm disaster relief I’m including this link to The Y’all Squad, a nonprofit which helps victims of weather disaster. From what I’ve seen and read, they are reliable and actually help communities in the most need without delay. I have no affiliation with them. I hope you are warm and safe today. Donate

Currently …

Orbital by Samantha Harvey book cover, Aperture by Harry Styles photo by Johnny Dufort, White Lotus promo poster HBO, image referring to Aperture music video, still from Big Bang Theory season 12 CBS, screen capture live weather Ryan Hall Y'all

Reading

Orbital by Samantha Harvey. I began the audiobook (Libby) this morning, and am appreciating the narrator and language. Set in space, astronauts looking at earth, getting news from home, interesting point of view. 2024 Booker Prize Winner