Collage 3

More collage fun! 

Collage 2

Same collage, two different color choices. Sometimes I just like to see if the composition holds up if I take the colors away. Color can distract from poor layout. I actually like both of these a lot--the colored one for the bright popping hues, and the sepia one just has a completely different feel even though it's the same image.

Alternative healthcare

I had my first acupuncture experience today. The cynical, instant gratification side of me wants to label it woo woo quackery, and just go to the doctor and get a bunch of pills to fix things right now (what do you mean, "cumulative effect?" I have to do this more than once for it to do something? That's just...un-American!). But then I remind myself that I thought the exact same thing about chiropractic care before I started getting my back adjusted several years ago.

Looks freaky, but it doesn't hurt at all

And the thing with taking painkillers, it just masks the problem, it doesn't actually resolve the issue. I've come to realize, if my body hurts, there's a reason why it's hurting. Shocking, I know. In our modern society, we're just used to always taking a pill whenever something aches or feels out of the ordinary. Once the pain goes away, we think the problem's solved. In reality, we've just treated the symptom, but not taken care of the root cause.

As someone living with an undiagnosed form of muscular dystrophy, I know how little help regular doctors can be at times. I've ridden the medical merry-go-round of tests and more tests that only told me what I don't have. But that doesn't help me live my everyday life. It's my body, I want to take care of it, and sometimes that means stepping out of the box, moving beyond my preconceived notions and prejudices. I'm not going to go off the deep end and throw all caution to the wind, but I am willing to try something a little unorthodox if it's going to help me be healthier.

Over the last few years, I've incorporated some elements of what's labeled "alternative" healthcare into my life. I see a chiropractor once a month to help maintain good alignment in my back and neck (essential when you're on your feet all day working in retail). Also once a month, I get a nice hour long massage (very relaxing, and helps my muscles from tightening up too much). I took an adapted yoga class for about six months (also super relaxing, and helped me pay attention to maintaining good posture and balance). And I feel really good lately--I haven't been majorly sick in a long time.

But if I get a sinus infection or pneumonia, yes, I'm going to go to the clinic and see my doctor and get antibiotics to take care of it. I'm not going to stop seeking medical care--that's pretty ludicrous in my eyes. But trying these alternative things in addition to regular check-ups has helped me immensely. It just takes a little more patience and self-discipline than popping a few pills.

So now I'm trying out acupuncture. I've heard it can help with chronic pain (it's a low grade ache, but it still sucks) and tinnitus (can you say highly annoying?). The guy I saw is highly certified and was suggested by my excellent massage therapist. I get that it's not a magic bullet, and I'm not going to feel instantly fantastic. It was definitely relaxing though, and you pretty much don't feel the needles at all--they're very tiny. I got an herbal mixture to drink to help with digestion (I've lost some weight over the last six months, which is not good when you're already underweight and weak). So, we'll see how I feel in a few weeks. I'm guessing it's going to help in some way, based on past experiences with other things I was initially highly skeptical of. If it improves my quality of life, I don't really care whether it's Western or Eastern style medicine.

There are certain "alternative" things I will never be convinced to try, however. The Mooncup being one of those (go on, Google it; you know you want to). In this case, I'm very happy to stick with the standard operating procedure on that one.

Collage 1

A pen pal friend of mine sent me a small sketchbook to fill up and send back to him. It's kind of like what I did with the Sketchbook Project a couple years ago, except this is just for one person. I haven't gotten very far on this book though--life has gotten surprisingly full of late, in a good way.

Anyways, this is a collage I put together earlier today (it's page 19, so it's not like I've been completely slacking off). I usually make pretty detailed, complex collages, so it's fun to try to make very pared down, simple ones. I've always enjoyed creating these--I find it very relaxing, especially all the time it takes to cut out all the pictures. People sometimes just assume it's a print or something I've put together in Photoshop, because I can make the edges really seamless. Nope, all done by hand. I've just given myself a lot of practice over the years cutting very delicately with scissors and exacto blades.

Sketching 7

These drawings were definitely influenced by the sermon I was listening to at church that day. It's two different visual interpretations of what I was mulling over as my pastor spoke. I think it's pretty obvious what was being talked about.

Sketching 6

I've been playing around recently with incorporating elements of microbiology into my work. I get my best inspiration while sitting in church actually.