Two days ago a huge storm blew through my town. My phone went off again and again to alert me of a severe storm warning. Stay inside, it said. Not a chance. I ran out into the blizzard to create. This weekend was the last with my foster baby. I raised her to 5 months old and today she went to a new home. It knocked the air out of me, and I broke a little. But I've done this before, and I know even as I feel broken, I am rebuilding. Today, I celebrate saying yes to every opportunity, no matter how much pain it will bring. Especially because of how much pain it will bring.It is a great fortune to love so deeply that it hurts. I'm so lucky to create through those experiences. To make this new piece of art when grief has sharpened my senses - the good and the bad - into something tangible and real. We can run from grief, or we can meet it. We can turn away from pain, or we can feel it. I choose to live wholly, painfully, beautifully. May we all learn to use grief as a microscope to see the beauty in darkness.It's there, that I promise. "Vitality", self-portrait, March 2021 Vitality: capacity for survival or for the continuation of a meaningful or purposeful existence.