If you had asked me a year ago if I would ever go over 3 months without posting on Hive, I would have called you crazy. Little did I know...

I am finally back home. Mom is doing well on her slow road to one hundred percent recovery. On the other hand, I came home, and my body shut down. I became numb to feeling anything or caring about anything. I spent the first week sleeping ten to twelve hours a day with a few naps.

While awake, I did four months of updates to my computer and every program I had on it. Once done updating, the computer issues I had been having before I left showed their face again. I added that to my list of things to look into.

While down in Florida, I tried to do some art. I wasn't successful due to stress, exhaustion, and no comfortable place to have quiet. It was bothering me to not keep up my drawing practice. It really upset me to finally get home and be numb emotionally.

Two years ago, this coming August, I signed up for SkillShare. Skillshare is an online learning website. You can take classes on just about anything. On the nights I couldn't sleep, I would turn on a Skillshare course and fall asleep while watching it.

Before I left to take care of Mom, I had purchased some acrylic paints. I had wanted to test out painting with them. For the last three nights, I went on SkillShare. I watched an excellent class called How to Create Contemporary Acrylic Paintings.

I picked the subject of contemporary art because it looked more straightforward than anything else I could find. I needed to motivate myself but not overwhelm my already overwhelmed body and mind.

It took a lot of poking to get me to finally start the painting. Once started, time flew by. I made mistakes, let the paint dry, covered over what I did not like, and kept painting until I had something I wanted.

I did not paint a masterpiece, but I did paint. While I would not call the painting contemporary, I will always treasure this painting. I felt alive while painting. A feeling I had not felt in a very, very, long time.