I’m writing this using the Substack app on my grayscale phone at 11:54 P.M., Manila Time. How weirdly normal it is to include that timezone…occupational hazard. Is the grayscale phone becoming weirdly normal, too? I have mine set to “Less Phone” mode.

Staggering fireworks are resounding at this time because of the upcoming Chinese New Year.

My sister and I did some cleaning at our house. She cleaned my fan, so it’s giving me cool air now that summer is coming. I’m loving the smell of my freshly changed bedsheet and pillow cases.

You see, I’m sharing with you some random stuff as I notice it. It’s good to notice things. For a daydreamer like me, my mind tends to float around. Doom scrolling never helped. So, I’m trying to incorporate little habits to ground me in the present.

Move a little. Put away my phone. Look up at the sky. Visit my mini garden and brush the leaves with my hand. Breathe deeply. Annoy my sister. Just little things to break my routine.

I’ve read somewhere that time passes by fast when we do the same thing over and over again -- so much so that our mind can’t find any new memory to pin, and our day becomes a blur. Now that is scary. I wouldn’t want that.

Actually, I was supposed to tell you what I’ve been writing here. But anyway… The fireworks have stopped. Going to sleep now. Goodnight! 😴

More often than we think, we stand in between what was and what could be. In between who we were and who we are striving to be. In between starting and finishing. In between today and tomorrow. In between the known and the unknown.

And I found that the middle part is as necessary as the start and end, if not the most important thing. This is where we learn how faith works. It’s the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. And we also learn more about where our faith lies. We get deeper into the character of who (or what) we have faith in. Gradually and eventually, we no longer base our actions on fear but on faith strengthened by assurance upon assurance.

The true test is in the middle. Every boring or scary step towards the end makes us who the end requires, stripping away old habits and beliefs. Or maybe the end is really not the end but only a resting point. And again, we find ourselves in the middle spot.

Moving.

Growing.

Living.

I'm not a driver, but I know what it feels like cruising along the road... singing you're favorite song... and bump! There it is, a speed bump no one knows when it got there.

I don't think we understand enough how important speed bumps in our life are. In our auto-pilot hustle, we don't realize that we're taking for granted the little things that keep our pace at the right meter. Our families, our friends, our hobbies. Art. Sunrise. Sunset. Chirping birds. Rustling wind. Boredom. Freshly baked cookies.

I cannot blame us for ignoring the speed bumps. Life is demanding and unpredictable.

My hope is that we are not hit with speed bumps unexpectedly. Not for our lives to be predictable. But to be in the lane where we can spot the speed bump and savor the things that matter more. Now that is living.

If you were here last year, you probably read about my thoughts on social media and how my digital consumption affects my mental health and creativity. No, it’s not a perfect journey. I still have my accounts, and I look at them from time to time. But it’s been a long while since I posted anything there, including art.

I must say, the effects of minimizing my mindless digital consumption are something I would want to carry on for the rest of my life. Of course, there are lapses, especially after a tiring day at work. And I think I perfectly said it in my journal that “I need a better coping mechanism from a day’s work”.

Lately, I found myself putting my phone down more each passing day. What replaced it, you ask? Aside from working on children’s book projects, here are some hobbies I picked up (again) after making an effort to take a digital break.

Reading Physical Books 📓✧˖°.

There’s nothing like the sound and feeling of crisp paper as you turn a page. E-books are okay, but too much screen time strains my eyes. This is one thing that I never thought I needed. When I read, I would picture the scenes in my head, and it ignites my imagination. My vocabulary is improving. My attention span is growing longer. I learn and I am entertained. Isn’t that a win? :D

Gardening ˖°𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Let’s be real. The price of food is not going down, and healthy living can be expensive. I’m dreaming of a vegetable garden to sustain my family’s need for healthy food. So, I started reviving my green thumb. The excitement makes me wake up early!

Plus, I get to draw them. Not much, but still… haha

Sketchbooking ✐⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Aside from using a pen to sketch, I’m also exploring different mediums like watercolor, poster color, wax crayons, and aqua crayons. It’s more for fun practice than intensive study. I brought out all my art materials and just placed them on my desk so I can easily reach them whenever I feel like creating.

My Analog Desk

Journaling ✎ᝰ.₊˚⊹

Of all my hobbies, this is the most constant thing for me. When my mind is full, I write. When my thoughts are racing, I write. When something significant happens in my life, I write. When internal questions arise, I write. When I need to reflect, I write. When I have ideas, I write. Basically, journaling helps to untangle my thoughts.

I’m not the daily routine type of gal (except for the need to water my mini garden). Even my newsletters are sporadic! Well, isn’t sporadic a rhythm, too? In this day and age when we’re expected to follow a certain consistency, why not show up in a way that is sustainable for us?

The small steps I’m taking and the small decisions I’m making, they have been good for my overall health and mood. And as an artist, it’s helping me to be mindful of the sustainability between consumption and creation. While we want to be constantly creating, there’s still a proper time for everything — a time to take in inspiration and a time to bring forth one.

I realized today that I haven't been writing here as often as I intended. This feed is supposed to house my random thoughts, regardless if it is worthwhile to send to my newsletter subscribers or not — art-related or not, whatever the holiday or season or date of the year is.

I have these multiple drafts. Imperfect. Undone. Then, I would let a draft sit for days until it no longer resonated with me. Posting it just doesn't feel right anymore by then. I also have some little notes here and there, which, I would say, wouldn't count as newsletter-worthy or blog-worthy. Alas, cobwebs all over.

I guess this is a reminder for me to let go of that perfection and fear of looking foolish in front of people. Of course, not to share everything in this digital space (there's a time and place for everything under the sun), but to free myself from expectations of what ought to be shared publicly or not.

I don't have the tendency to divulge anything TMI, anyway. :D

It's so convenient now to take photos from our phones. It's even more convenient to share it to everyone in the digital space. Although I don't take pictures that often, I love the fact that pictures allow us to relive our memory more concretely. So many things happen in our lives, and sometimes we forget that time when we celebrated a birthday or that time when we were with someone special or even that normal day when we woke up early in a cool morning under a calm sky. Having those moments recorded in a photo (or video) can help us remember.

The thing about digital photos is that it can be forgotten, too. It can be lost instantly when your phone gets broken or the big guys decide that your social media account doesn't meet their rules and just cut you off. It gets covered up under layers and layers of screenshots and downloaded memes. So I'm saving my photos...

...in print!

I still have A LOT of pictures to print and I ran out of photo paper. I probably would need to sort it down to fewer pieces. Or should I just print it all? 🤔

Holding on to a memory...literally. (And oh, that smudged 'e' -- perfectly imperfect.)

Today is the last working day of the year. No calls from my day job, please. 🙏

This is my last post for 2025, so let's celebrate these milestones together, shall we? 🙌

📚 New Picture Book: Hamburger Harriet Needs Help! by Anna Gomez

Quirky food! I absolutely loved doing this second book of Hamburger Harriet. While the first book teaches paragraph structure, this one teaches sentence structure and punctuation. Who would’ve thought that you can introduce these abstract concepts to children through a walking BLT burger?! Wittily written, I would say.

📚 New Picture Book: Tony Tractor Gets Glasses by Mallory Dyer

Adorable trucks! Dedicated to the author’s nephew who has strabismus, this book helps children navigate the emotions of getting glasses and feeling different. This is the first of its series. Creating the characters was indeed the most challenging for me. I am not an expert with cars or trucks, not to mention giving them each a personality. With a splash of doubt if I’ll ever see it through to the end and a mountain of picture references, I braved the blank page. And now the first book is done!

✨ I am now represented by the ever-wonderful Sally Apokedak of Paraklesis Press.

From finding me on TikTok and collaborating on one book via Fiverr to creating a series of picture books, it’s been an exciting ride with Sally! I’m blessed to have a literary agent who is considerate and gives me an array of creative opportunities. Sally, thank you for lifting up my artist spirit!

What’s next…

Two books are in the works in the last quarter of this year, both of which are scheduled to be published next year. Two books...simultaneously! I was skeptical if I could do it given my time constraints and brain bandwidth (programming can take a lot of creative brain cells). But here we are! There's always a first time for everything. I’ve been meaning to take on more projects in a year anyway. A level up from one book a year. Thanks to my lovely agent, who helped me schedule each milestone properly.

My thoughts as 2025 is ending...

• Not all cringe memories are bad. Some mean I tried.

• Oh, what a joy it will be to make a living solely out of my creative practice! I’ll get there soon.

• Should I get an iMac?

• Who can possibly review my portfolio?

• I should get that website domain.

• Host a crafts workshop, maybe?

• Idea dump is piling up. Need to make at least one exist.

• “Jesus is the reason for this season.” I say, He’s the reason in whatever season!

Thank yous and greetings…

To my dear readers, I can’t thank you enough for being part of my year. Knowing that you’re out there still subscribed to my infrequent newsletter, I’m grateful. May your remaining 2025 be God-favored as we move to another year.

Mapagpalang Pasko sa ating lahat! A blessed Christmas!

Sharing this raw artwork today because it sums up my thoughts and feelings today.

This is how I spent my one-week birthday leave…

… and I’m perfectly satisfied with it. ♥︎

Yes, I “wasted” one week of vacation leave just to do all this. It’s a week full of planned and unplanned mall-hopping, book-buying, gardening, and staying at home with my family. Add a sprinkle of errands here and there.

What a “boring” birthday celebration! But not the boredom that I would dread. Thinking about it, I rarely get bored doing nothing (except if it is a dragging Zoom meeting that I’m not supposed to be in). Daydreaming — that’s what keeps me from getting bored. Projects and ideas live rent-free in my mind. Not that I’ll jump into it immediately. It’s just there…waiting…to be birthed into existence or simply be forgotten.

Simplicity, too. I don’t really mind staying at home on my birthday (9pm is too late to be out for me now, anyway) or not having a traditional birthday cake (if it’s not too sweet, I’ll take it). My point is… at this season of my life, I prefer simplicity over grandeur. Sustainability over intensity. Not worrying too much about what might be and appreciating what is. Taking Jesus at His words and promises. Navigating life’s many twists and turns with prudence, lest I break my lower back.

If I ever have a chance to have another “boring” week, I would — with all my heart — plot it in our leave calendar.

My family and I could go on a road trip and stay at a nearby spot. That would be nice.

We can fly somewhere else far. That would be nice.

I could stay at home, be a plantita, and tour around the house I’m already familiar with. That would be nice, too. :)

It is almost merienda time and the end of a school day. One by one, kids are getting picked up by their sundo. The place is getting quieter by the minute.

There’s one little girl left.

Now, there’s this huge standing bulletin board that greets you when you enter the big doors of the school. You know, the one with wheels so it can be moved anywhere. There’s a bit of space on the lower half so you can see the other side when you bend.

This little girl is sitting below it, somewhere close to the left foot of the bulletin board. She’s busy flipping papers, folding them into handmade bookmarks.

Alone.

Unbothered.

Too engrossed with her craft.

She doesn’t mind.

The little girl curves herself almost into a ball — enough to see closely what she is doing. With her little hands, she places a paper on top of her notebook. Carefully, she takes two corners of the paper and folds it in half, making sure everything’s aligned. And fold she goes until she’s satisfied.

The next minute, she leans down further on the floor. Scribbles. Doodles. All with her pencil and crayons.

Her blue skirt turns gray; her arms are smudged with gray and pink by the pressure of her weight against the smooth concrete floor.

She doesn’t mind.

“Anong ginagawa mo diyan?”

My mom walked quietly through the big school doors. Her upper body leaned sideways as she spotted me curled up below the standing bulletin board. My back was against the big doors, so I didn’t notice her. I wouldn’t notice her either way. My other senses mysteriously shut off when I’m too focused on something.

I looked up to her, probably nonchalantly. Then I grinned, realizing it was my mom. Hurriedly, I picked up my masterpieces and my bag, stood up from where I was sitting, and brushed off the gray from my blue skirt and arms.

I walked out of the school’s big doors, hand in hand with my mom.

I’m not sure if I answered her question that time — about why I was sitting there of all places.

My mom probably knew.

I was too engrossed with my craft.

I just didn’t mind. :)

There are children's stories that hit differently when you read them again as an adult. Sentences suddenly make sense. Dialogues become relatable. Storylines become as vivid as reality. These are the kind of stories that grow with you.

I have an album full of beautiful skies on my phone (and my digicam). I don’t share it nowadays after lessening my social media interactions. I don’t even look back at it. I guess it’s just the habit of “sharing moments” so we capture them on our phone. Or maybe we subconsciously fear that we won’t have any concrete thing to remind us of that memory.

I am reminded again what it felt like mindlessly staring at the beauty God made — focusing and just letting it sink in.

Sometimes we take it for granted. So much to unlearn. :)

It’s Friday afternoon.

My shift has just ended.

The neighbor has sung five songs in the karaoke — and is still singing.

The sky is gray.

The rain is drizzling.

The cool breeze is blowing.

Weekend is here.

I drew this cute T-Rex years back. It's pretty handy for when you're moving sites.

I once sold it as a sticker in an art market. It was the year 2022. Very few people bought. What can I say... either the internet's more accessible now, or the internet's still bad but Google search is not a thing anymore. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How people find things online nowadays, I don't know. All I know is I had to google "ifykyk" just to be sure. :))

I’ve been contemplating about my shop and my creative “career” overall — writing my ideas/plans/checklists on my idea dump notebook. And one of those plans (not concrete yet) is joining bazaars or art markets.

So, here’s what I did. I made a directory of some sort — a list of art markets/bazaars/events, whatever you call it. It’s for me to have a one-page reference of what’s out there. And hopefully it will help other creatives who might come across my site, too.

Head on to the menu and you’ll find it under Resources. I trust that you’ll find your way. :)

P.S.

I was supposed to add a rating scale for different areas like foot traffic, booth fee (value for money), etc. But it seems that I need to go dev mode on my site to do that. My brain cells cannot do it yet.

Should I join bazaars again? My first art market was fun, but I wasn't able to sustain the design-making. What could happen if I start again?

This is a question that struck me years ago when I was navigating my 20s. It was when I was just starting out with my creative path alongside my day job.

I’ll be a full-time artist. That was my answer before.

Now that I’m older and got a taste of reality, I’m thinking…

I’ll be a full-time artist.

I’ll live in a homestead with my family. We’ll grow our own food and own livestock.

We’ll live life slowly as if the earth is not rotating fast.

Until then, I’ll make the best of my days — illustrating children’s books after my shift, growing food in pots, taking a break and…simply being. :)

For some reason, I Googled "studio ghibli children's books" and I'm surprised to know that they really have one! Actually, not just one!

I've been a fan of Studio Ghibli ever since I watched Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. I must say that I didn't grow up watching Studio Ghibli movies, rather, I'm more of the typical anime and Western cartoon kid (thanks to cable network). Dragon Ball, Ghost Fighter, Ranma 1/2, Zenki, Slam Dunk, Cow and Chicken, Dexter's Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls. Enough, let's not give away my age. Haha!

Studio Ghibli basically didn't exist in my young world back then. If I remember it correctly, it was one of my Sunday School teachers who introduced me to Studio Ghibli. (Thank you, Ate Len!)

Now that I'm in the world of children's books as an illustrator, I am ecstatic about Miyazaki's films turned into picture books. I so love the films, but make it a picture book? That's a whole different game.

It's probably not available yet in our local bookstores (I'll have to check). Maybe I can order in Amazon when I have the fund. For now, I only have one art book, which is a gem, too. ♡

Let’s cook up a tasty burger! The first book series I illustrated, starring Hamburger Harriet, is now out on Amazon!

If you’re looking for a fun way to teach kids how to write better, then these books are for you. Stroll down Burger Boulevard or Pickle Plain Lane, and get to know Harriet’s friends, too!

Written by AnnA Gomez, Published by Paraklesis Press.

My illustrations always start with the linework. If I can choose only one favorite step in making art, it's this. I guess, all those coloring books I had as a kid made a huge impact. The negative spaces that embody every page wait to be filled, and yet each page is beautiful as it is.