August Print Dispatch
Hand-illustrated, seasonal phone and desktop wallpapers, printable coloring sheets, and junk journal patterns to embellish your next craft project.
Good afternoon from cardboard box land! Last Thursday, one of the hottest days of the summer, I moved into a Brooklyn brownstone. Life doesn’t really stop when you move, so I’ve been operating amongst the boxes, wearing random outfits from wherever I can find them in the chaos, and often looking for a missing spatula.
Since I was a child, I was always drawn to the movie 101 Dalmatians. The world within the film had a certain feeling I have always wanted to emanate.
I recall a childhood sleepover where a girl decided we would go around in a circle and state our favorite Disney prince: Which one would we MARRY? This was a bombshell sleepover question.
I thought long and hard as I waited my turn, then I said, “Roger from 101 Dalmatians,” which earned some looks. I elaborated that while he is not a prince, I liked how tall he was. I liked that he was an artist who read books, and most importantly, he liked dogs. Further, I’d like to live in that kind of neighborhood with the tall houses and park down the road (and a lot of dogs, of course).
In the first half of my twenties, I lost a lot, and deep personal loss and grief marked those years so deeply that my worldview fogged with sorrow. I began to believe that life was not going to be what I dreamed it could be, and instead, suffering would be around every corner. I get why I felt that way because most of the data my brain had about being an adult was based on hard experiences and wounds. Time has passed, and I’m grateful to live in days of “good data.”
My brain needed more evidence that things could actually go well.
When I was a teacher, we constantly talked about kids needing “good data” about themselves. If they hated getting up in front of the class to speak, they needed a few times where they felt safe speaking, and then they could start to believe public speaking wasn’t as scary as they thought. It was my job to give them the few safe times.
For example, let’s say you have a string of hurtful friendships and begin to believe anyone could hurt you. Your experience shapes a worldview that others are not to be trusted or perhaps that you are not even lovable. A year later, you meet someone who proves to be a true friend. You’re suspicious and hesitant at first, but over time they give you enough good data. They show up for you, don’t hide things, encourage you, and you resolve any misunderstandings appropriately: it is a healthy friendship.
