no time like now

mid-year resolutions.

beginnings are always so exciting!

Hi there. Welcome to my first Substack post for Gee’s Storees. If you’re new to my pages and work, hi! I’m Fran, an illustrator and picturebook maker creating work that adds a touch of whimsy and magic to the mundanity of everyday life. I create books, illustrations for children’s books, and most importantly, I tell stories.

I have a quarterly newsletter to which you can subscribe here:

however, the idea is to use this space to share more of my process work. I’ve recently found I needed a different space to express myself other than through the Instagram platform, and Substack seems like a perfect place to utilise as the blog I’ve always wanted to keep. So here we are!

I would love this to be a space that encourages interaction and support within the community I intend to build here, and feedback and comments will always be welcome! So don’t be shy - let me know your thoughts.

Now that we’ve gotten the introductions out of the way, time to cut to it. These last few months have been equally inspiring and draining. I’ve been bursting with ideas for new material but as it turns out, I was too overwhelmed and exhausted to tackle them. During this last month, in particular, I’ve taken some time off of social media, work, and not so successfully - my mind and thoughts. I think it’s safe to say that, after speaking with people, this anxiety and overwhelm is quite a common feeling and I’ve found some great resources and points of help out there. But I also knew that taking control of this was the best thing I could do for my wellbeing and accepting that some things are out of one’s control is tough, but it’s necessary.

I’m constantly reminding myself to focus on ‘now’, not yesterday, not tomorrow.

Taking breaks and not over-exerting yourself during work hours is a good thing.

If you decide to work a 3-day week or a 3-hour day, that’s also good.

Not being available for everyone 24/7 is ok

So, that's it from me for this post - I will try to keep these brief and as frequent as I can, but I'll not be stressing too much about it, to avoid sucking the fun out of this exciting venture, and to stick to what I'm slowly learning about my mental wellbeing.

Take care and talk soon!

Fran

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