AUTHOR: Monica Lee TITLE: At Last! DATE: 3:15 PM ----- BODY:

I finally feel like I am coming out of the "flu fog". I am busy cleaning out my studio in anticipation of a new year and some exciting new projects. I just got off the phone with my new licensing agent. I am so thrilled, I feel like I had a total moment of connection with someone who "gets" the direction I want to go and is partnering up with me to get me there. Hallelujah! All in all it has been a long time coming but at the same time every experience, every journal entry, every drawing I drew is all part of the road. The difference is for the first time on a long time, I can feel that my confidence in myself and in my artistic ability is in a completely different place. I almost feel grown-up. ha! I think part of today should be for me to sit back and realize I once was at a spot in my life where I didn't think I would do any more art at all. I had gone through a divorce, closed my greeting card company, gone back to flying full-time and was raising my small son. I was so filled with sorrow the idea of creating a joyful piece of art seemed a million miles away. With my paint brushes packed in the attic, I had a girlfriend ask me to create some murals in her home that mimicked my greeting cards. We bartered, I would paint and my son and I would stay in her vacation house for a week. I never knew if she was just being empathetic towards me and my sorry state or if she really wanted my art to her home but I unpacked my brushes and worked in a way I wasn't used to working-on walls! It was different and frustrating and I felt exposed as her very large family paraded past my works in progress. It was just what I needed. I will always love her for it-it got me "unstuck" and back in the saddle. Are you stuck? You have miles to go before you sleep-keep at it-do something completely different than you are used to doing (hint:this can be applied to many areas of our lives!) Know someone that is stuck? Ask for their help with something-if may jar something loose in them and they just might love you forever as a result.

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