String threads of blue and green, tautly stitched upon milk-white canvas – why must you be so intoxicating? Too much time choosing colors and sketching designs against the rather impatient eagerness to start thrills me. Even the sharp prick of a needle that draws the red crimson from my skin scares me not. Once I start the tedious push and pull of threads, I feel so at peace. — I’m so happy to have found something that eases my restless mind and heart. 

I am far too happy to be doing embroidery until way past midnight. Like illustrating and writing stories, I often times find myself lost in the long process of creating such embroidered curiosities. Despite the lancing pain of a needle poking my fingers in my eagerness to finally create a leaf or two, I still feel calm. I hate it when needles poke mercilessly through skin and yet, for this, I can tolerate them. 

In lazy (relaxed but still doing lots of things and hey, define busy) days, I always revert to my cottage lass form, enjoying endless cups of coffee or tea while busying myself with illustration and embroidery. I find myself thinking, just why do I keep myself busy with these? Well, aside from the fact that drawing on paper and pulling threads both give me an indispensable feeling of comfort and & familiarity, I much rather enjoy the tedious work of improving my skills and learning new things. I must learn and improve, always. To strive to be better, that's what I always wanted to keep on doing. It is such a huge world of possibilities out there and I am always yearning to at least take hold of some. In a small corner of the village, inside a sunny yellow house, I find myself open to the world. I'm still yearning to see the world as it is, and that is to be out there, experiencing it. For now, I shall continue working and planning to do so. 

Busy days often grab me by the sleeves -- do these illustrations, write those stories for that new book, learn how to sew bags, do more digital art and backgrounds, enroll in Japanese class, get a working visa in Japan, find a job, promote Etsy shop, apply for this and that. I'm so busy despite not having a day job. I suppose trying to manage my time and tasks as well as my goals is also the same as illustrating and embroidery -- do them one by one and with great focus. 

Ironically, I'm currently in a state of recluse as my eyelids are suffering from blepharitis, an infection that affects the glands of my eyelashes. I have to stay at home. But even though I must stop myself from illustrating and facing the computer and relax for several hours at an interval, I managed to finish that illustration piece that I've been meaning to accomplish and update all that needs to be updated (I made a Ko-Fi account! :3). I can't be stopped, even by myself, apparently.