308,160 minutes

 

[ from The Birth Project by  Amanda Greavette, via The Joy Of This ]

308,160 minutes since the arrival of my first child ! how full each moment, how laden. the luster of the ethereal shines through the dust of day-to-day activities, and now, 7 months later, I turn to glimpse a flicker of my life before motherhood only to watch it vanish in shifts of light. I am not a religious person, but creating this new life with my husband is the most spiritual experience I have yet encountered. my consciousness was pushed deep inside my body for 9 complex months, but now with the arrival of my son, it is thrust open into the full space of the day. I am alert to his gurgling sounds, the spreading glow of his smile, the thump of his limbs as he learns to crawl, pull up, turn over, reach out. as he finds his world and makes sense of it, so too am I relearning the contours of my life, my spirit, my goals, my voice. there is no such thing as silence anymore, for my brain is full of train-like thoughts, speeding from the station in many different directions. tumbling with humdrum to-do’s are the larger questions of who I will be as a parent, who my husband will reveal himself to be as a father, and most importantly, how best we can pull and prod Marsden into himself as he grows into his own person.

i wax nostalgic, burst like a blustery wind, ramble like cool water over river stones, grow poetic when I consider the density of time which yet so briskly moves.

little shoes to fill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friends + fans, I have the happiest news to share with you ! As I write this, I am less than 24 hours away from being a mom … ! I am overflowing with so much joy that I have been wearing out the poor exclamation point on my keyboard … !!! 

How can I possibly put into words the last 39 weeks of pregnancy wonder? I decided to keep this huge news private until the last moment, largely because I’ve never been sure how much I wanted to reveal how blended my personal and professional lives are. In reality, I am Loop and Loop is me in so many ways that to even consider a distinction is silly.

Being pregnant has been such an overwhelming act of creation that it has made me quite distracted these past few months ! I’ve tried to make more time to be in the studio drawing, and I have some exciting patterns in the works… My mom is beside herself in anticipation of her first grandchild, and with an increased number of visits, we’ve had more time to doodle together in person over tea. With some incredible new clients –  Paperchase UK, Whole Foods + Art Mart, Buro Vis a Vis in the Netherlands, and LACMA – I’ve had my business hands full as well.

Entering into this next phase of my life is full of so many unknowns, but there are a few things I know for sure.  The next month will find me truly in the moment, studying our new baby’s face, massaging fingers and toes, getting to know sounds and movements and newborn ways…. * sigh *. I’ll also be listening to my own body with heightened senses and greeting my extraordinary husband as a Father … In a month or so when I’m feeling a bit more recovered, I’ll be announcing a baby blog devoted to my adventures in New Baby Land.  A warm thank you in advance to all of Loop’s fans for your patience as I take a little longer to release new paper goods this year - but do stay tuned for updates on the great Newness nonetheless !