Thursday, February 17th, 2022

This has been an incredible week! I have been getting to do some exciting and creative work within my job. I am finding that I have been waking up with more passion each day due to the inspiration I have at work. I am working with positive and incredible people. I have been wearing a variety of hats lately. I get to create new opportunities to work with new people with the UO Steering Committee. We are raising money for the UO Governor’s Employee Food Drive. It has been giving me opportunities to be creative in marketing, social media, art, and collaborating with others. I am so grateful I put myself out there even if at first I felt uncertain about the process and how the outcome would be. However, as I am diving into the process, I keep growing and learning new skills. I get to communicate in new ways. I get to stretch myself creatively and contintue to see how I impact my community on a deeper level. It gives me a new way to express myself. I am looking forward to all the new opportunities around the corner! Here are a few images down below I have had the opportunity to create in efforts to raise more money for Food For Lane County! Feeling very inspired!

Hope you all have a wonderful week too!

Love,

Sophie

I have so much to be inspired about these days. It’s seems a bit ironic with how things have been in the last 8 months. However, I honestly feel more connected to my creativity even more now. When you are in a position where working from home is the new normal and helping your kid succeed virtually, it changes something inside of you. It opens up new ways to connect with others in ways you wouldn’t have otherwise. You start to see reach out more in new ways. You call instead of text. You video chat instead of call. You plan a quick lunch or coffee chat only 6 feet apart. You change the ways you connect. You have meaningful conversations because you deeply care about your friends, family and colleagues. There is more depth in what is happening all around us. My art is a portal to diving deeper into what it means to really connect. This is why I love playing with layers of mixed media, mixed papers, collage, text, words and create new textures onto of other layers. I want my art to connect with others in new ways. I want to let others know that they can experience depth and connection too. I sometimes used to feel as if I was looking from outside the world and looking in. Now, I see from so many different perspectives and it’s incredibly freeing. I love how my imagination just wants to explore new sounds in music, colors and patterns. I also try to get outside more and go for a walk. This fall has taught me to slow down more and to enjoy what matters in our lives. Instead of focusing on the news or a random scroll, it’s really important to look within and hear that voice inside. This voice often gets overlooked or disappears in the noise of the world. This past summer I tried to let myself really experience life from so many different angles. I am so grateful I did. Now that we need to pause here in Oregon and go inward a little more, I am embracing it rather than feeling any resistance to it. I am allowing it in. It’s important to slow down, hear the rain fall, cozy up with some extra blankets, stock up free little pantries with lots of good food around town, write in my journal or doodle a new drawing. These are some of the little things I relish in. Slowing down and counting each blessing as I see them. Hope you all have a lovely Fall and transition into a beautiful winter season. Stay healthy and safe!