Personal Updates and Such

It’s been a little bit of time since I gave a personal update about what’s going on with my family’s continuing journey–so since I’m a bit overloaded with work at the moment and don’t seem to have anything else pressing to talk about this morning, I figured now was as good a time as any. 🙂

The Wild One has been working on building a business selling her art, and The Director has begun doing something similar in hiring himself out to make music videos for local bands. Both have had their ups and downs, but I think they’re on the right track.  I’ve continued to compose music in addition to my freelance writing responsibilities. I think it’s only a matter of time before these activities open more doors, not only for income streams, but also for other opportunities to engage the creative community from a mission standpoint. One aspect I’m pretty excited about is that I recently got asked to produce a band in the studio–something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.  We’ll be working on details over the next few weeks, with an eye for getting into the studio starting in late April.

While all that has been going on, it seems like “transition” has been a theme for our family over the past several months, and that often translates to “unsettled.” That sense of transition took on a very tangible form a couple of weeks ago when our landlord called to give us a heads-up that he was seriously considering putting our townhome on the market when our lease ends on June 30–meaning, of course, we can’t renew our lease.  This understandably put us in a bit of upheaval because Denver has seen a huge population surge, and housing is a definite issue–including skyrocketing rent prices and in some cases difficulties even finding a place to rent.  For us, it’s no longer as simple as finding a little apartment.  Since moving here, we have all claimed our creative work spaces in our current digs, and having that space is critical to our continuing to grow. This prompted us to look at a number of different options, including locating a real estate lady in town who specializes in helping artists find homes.  As it turns out, it actually looks promising that we may qualify to purchase–something we hadn’t even considered since the housing crash.  We’re still working on numbers, doing paperwork, etc., but it is not out of the realm of possibility that we might just buy this townhouse directly from the landlord before it’s over. If you’re one to pray, we’d appreciate prayers for guidance and favor as we figure this out over the next few weeks. However it happens to turn out, I have a sense from God that He has already spoken to our situation, and He has something in mind that we will be able to afford.  That said–anyone who goes through a transition time knows that it is still unsettling until it gets–well–settled. 🙂 I’ll keep you posted.

Another bit of good news to share is that recently, after months of submitting and receiving rejections from this or that festival, The Director’s short film was accepted into its first film festival.  As it happens, it’s not too far from our old stomping grounds–Muskogee, OK, to be exact.  So we’re planning a trip in April to the Bare Bones Film Festival to support the film, which should prove to be a great opportunity for The Director to make some important connections.

One final thought–somewhere in all this, there is still a strong sense of mission within me. I recently took a hiatus from the music blogging thing because first, I obviously needed a break; and second, at this point I am ready to do something a bit more tangible for the creative community than just write good stuff about it.  The opportunity to produce a band is a huge thing for me because it’s a chance to get in with the musicians and work with them tangibly. I also have a desire to provide emotional and financial support for struggling artists (because I sure have been there).  And to tell you the truth, there are aspects to our story as a family and our artistic journey that I haven’t shared here on this blog, largely because that’s not what the blog is really about–and I think those stories need to be shared.  So when the dust of our immediate situation settles, there are two things that are a strong possibility in the upcoming months:

1. A new blog geared toward creatives discussing the artist’s journey; and
2. Some sort of new nonprofit organization geared toward emotional and financial support for creatives.

I know that’s vague right now–but again, I’ll keep you posted. 🙂

So that’s what’s going on with me. How are you?