20 Comments
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Freda Heights's avatar

Thanks for sharing this; it hits home in a big way. It's incredibly hard to lose touch with your creativity, especially when it's so central to who you are. I appreciate your honesty about how tough and messy that journey back can be. I'm glad you're writing and drawing again, even if it's different from before; sometimes different can be good. Keep going!

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Miscellaneous Adventures's avatar

Thank you Freda - glad it resonated somehow. Different can definitely be good, and thank you for the words of encouragement!

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Casey's avatar

Thanks for your vulnerability! It takes courage to share like this. Your story will help encourage others who struggle in secret. I really appreciated reading this and I love the work that you guys do.

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Miscellaneous Adventures's avatar

Thank Casey, really appreciate the kind words!

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Lin Gregory's avatar

What an incredibly scary thing to happen - I'm pleased to see that you're back drawing (they are wonderful by the way) and have rebuilt your life in a slightly different way. In my life a scary event stopped me in my tracks and changed my outlook on life and the way I work. At the time it was frustrating to say the least, but now I see it as a positive thing that made me less hard on myself.

Congratulations on your 100th post - looking forward to reading many more!

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Miscellaneous Adventures's avatar

Thanks Lin - yeah absolutely, we have to try and take the positives from experiences like this, even though it can feel hard at the time. Looking forward to sharing more posts here soon!

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Amy's avatar

It is really difficult to comprehend how suddenly life can change unless you live through something like this yourself or with someone you love. Sorry to read you had such a scary time. It is helpful to read about others' experiences though I think, so thank you for sharing this Andrew. I also really liked Erik's response - it's not about 'getting back', but moving forward from wherever you find yourself. And I agree with you, creativity can be a part of all aspects of life. Congratulations on 100 posts! Always a pleasure and best wishes to you all 🌼

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Miscellaneous Adventures's avatar

Thank you Amy! Glad to hear it was helpful to read about this experience - I'm never sure about sharing personal stuff like this, but I think it's relevant to who we are and we do and I hope that others can learn from the lessons this experience has taught me without having to go through anything like it...Thanks again and best wishes to you too!

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Vicki Turner Dallyn's avatar

Whoa, Andrew, that sounds bloody scary - sorry you had to go through that. Glad to hear you managed to find a way through, and great to see that signature style of yours, bubbling back up. Take care up there, and congrats on your 100th post! x

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Miscellaneous Adventures's avatar

Vicki! So good to see you here. Thank you for the kind words - onwards and upwards!

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Carrie Starbuck's avatar

Thank you for sharing your experience so openly. It’s moving to read about the long road back, and how creativity became part of that healing. There’s something so powerful in the way you describe the loss and return of that part of yourself. I’m really glad you’re finding your way back.

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Miscellaneous Adventures's avatar

Thank you Carrie, I really appreciate the thoughtful comment.

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Rob's avatar

Really appreciate you sharing this, Andrew – what a wild ride life is, hey!?

Congrats on making it to 100 – I'd say your writing is pretty impressive now! Here's to another ton!

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Miscellaneous Adventures's avatar

Thanks Rob! It's a wild ride indeed - buckle up and enjoy it as best we can!

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Erik Hogan's avatar

That is a terrifying event! My wife had a similar experience several years ago which ended up being a side effect of some medication she was taking. I've had some significant physical injuries that I've had to rehab myself from. I think, with these things, its not really about getting back to exactly where we were before. Rather, its where do we go from here to become the best kind of person we can be.

Congrats on issue 100! On a reader's end, your writing is very engaging and vivid. I love those illustrations and would like to see more of them, as well!

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Miscellaneous Adventures's avatar

Thanks Erik - yeah absolutely, I like that idea of not having to get back to exactly where we were. You have to try to do the best you can with what you have. Sometimes these things can even create new opportunities if we think about them in the right way, although it's hard in the midst of things to see it at the time.

Sorry to hear your wife had a similar experience too, stuff like that is scary for everyone involved.

And, thank you for your continued feedback and support on here Erik, it's good to be sharing the journey with fellow photographers and adventurers like yourself. Cheers!

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Hannah Hunter-Kelm's avatar

Thanks for this, and I love the sketchbooks

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Miscellaneous Adventures's avatar

Thank you Hannah, much appreciated

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Linzi Hawkin's avatar

Thanks for sharing that story - and congrats on 100 issues, what a feat! You guys are so good at consistently sharing great work, always enjoy when your email lands in my inbox. It feels like an invitation to take a breath and just pause for a moment (and plan an outdoor adventure ha ha).

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Miscellaneous Adventures's avatar

Thanks Linzi - so good to hear from you and thank you for the kind words. Hope we get to catch up IRL some day!

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