Friend, 
It has been far too long since I checked into this blog and wrote down my thoughts. 
Did you hear about my new studio? 
This space is kind of a dream come true. Let me tell you about it. 

After we made our decision to stop pursuing family building, I felt a new sense of space open up. I wanted to finally give my art business ideas room to grow and unfold. For so many years, my ideas, projects and art goals had been put on hold or downsized to fit into our lifestyle. The lifestyle that was perpetual fertility treatments, large payments, fluctuating schedules, and yo-yo emotions. It was liberating to shift the focus. 

For awhile, I had been dreaming of possibilities. I've got so many ideas; like hosting workshops, offering one on one sessions, owning my own studios, planning large exhibits, installations and so much more. 
My friend Misty, (fellow artist) had mentioned that her church was hoping to utilize some unused space, possibly for artists.  We chatted about ideas and life goals and I didn't think about it again. Then a few months later, she brought it up again, asking if I knew who she should direct the church leaders to... where they could begin with making contacts with artists.  I suggested the Emerging Artist Collective. Blair Clark, and the admins of EAC are always connecting artists to local information and I thought that would be a good place to start. 
Time passed, and I ended up becoming an EAC admin myself, along with a few other new admins. One day, Blair  let me know that St. Pauls had reached out to her. She was going to tour the space to offer feedback, and had invited Barbie Perry and myself along. At that point Barbie and I had also been dreaming up some ideas for Peoria. Well, the three of us (plus baby J Clark) toured the church and it's space. It was full of possibilities and really interesting. We all had a lot of questions and certainly could see the potential.
 

 Barbie continued the conversation with the church leaders, as she is a total powerhouse of amazingness, and she decided to move in. Before long, Jason (the maintenance man extraordinaire) was finishing her studio. I was feeling like I needed to seriously consider a move but I was hesitant, I had a perfectly lovely studio already.   
In the end, I decided that I could not pass up this opportunity. 
My new studio is spacious... it's so big and beautiful. My new studio has the best AC unit. My new studio is flooded with natural light from the wall of windows. My new studio is pet friendly, secure, clean, and affordable. I could go on and on... but here are a few photos. 

All of my art supplies fit into this space. I absolutely love it. Barbie and I share a window wall that my brother Austin built.  Other artists are in and soon more will be coming. There is still work happening and things that need to be decided on by the group (like a name) but I am so thrilled to be a part of this. 
Thankful. Grateful. Beyond Excited.

This is where the water gets murky.  The contract is very important and crucial step in this process. The contract is for our (Intended Parents) protection, the baby’s protection, the gestational surrogate’s protection and her family’s protection. Everyone involved is considered and protected. It is a huge undertaking.
We had all of our research and knowledge but until you are in the contract phase… it’s really hard to imagine all the possible scenarios you need to think through, plan for and wrap your head around.  Dealing with lawyers is intimidating… the language and the legality is daunting.  The whole process got heavy… fast.  And expensive… it’s what we knew… what we had anticipated… but it just felt so…. Big and heavy.
I won’t go into details, because those are for us.
 But I will share this. I started to mildly panic. And it only took a short amount of mild panic days for my anxiety to become fully charged and ready to explode.  
One night, Matt took Ellie on a walk. During their walk, an email popped up on my phone… from our lawyer. It wasn’t a bad email. It didn’t say anything that was unexpected or outrageous… but it triggered something in me. And I had a panic attack.   Irrational  Emotional  Frantic PANIC…. gripped me. The pressure of everything seemed to crash into me.
It felt like this was the bad news. This was the ball dropping. This was the story our infertility journey always took… “and now for the bad/sad/disappointing/heartbreaking/devastating portion” 
It wasn’t
But
To me … it felt like it was.
And I typed a response… a nonsensical response to our lawyer. I hit send.
Then I panicked some more… and typed a second response to our lawyer. I hit send again.
 
The door opened, and a freezing Matt & Ellie (our dog) walked in… He was talking to me.
I couldn’t hear him. I was panicking. I told him over and over “I am panicking”
He didn’t understand. why was I in a panic? Don’t worry… it’s okay.
He read the email that triggered me. He saw nothing wrong with the email. (Bless his level headed soul, I love this man)
He reassured me that it was fine, we could email her a response in the morning. I could now stop panicking.
So I told him (still panicking but a little less intensely) “No I emailed already, twice… omg I was panicked. It doesn’t make sense. Our lawyer will think I am losing my mind. What have I done? Can you email her? Tell her I panicked? Fix it please?”
He was (rightfully) upset with me for having responded twice… without first consulting him. And to be honest I think he was kind of upset with me for panicking. When you live with someone who has anxiety or depression… or both… it affects you too, and sometimes, you get upset, sometimes you just wish they didn’t have these things. I get it. It is valid. It makes sense. But when you are the person with all the feelings going haywire… it hurts. I could sense his frustration and anger… which of course… made me panic even more.
I didn’t sleep much that night.
The next day I cried a lot. I cried at the lawyer’s kindness in her response to my two emails. I cried because I felt like I was unraveling. I cried and I thought. And then I went to my studio. And I started to paint.
I needed to get that panic out. I needed to release it. ​

It's been  a week and a half since we made our decision. A few days ago we went public with it, and I wanted to come here... and share a little more. How it all unfolded there at the end. How I took my grief / panic / anxiety and poured it into this work seen above. 

I'm not sure what the future holds. But I am ready. 

and thank you
Thank you for your words of encouragement, your prayers, your hugs and tears and hope. It has been a very long journey. 
Jaci Musec


my facebook/instagram post:
We’ve always been us. You, Me 
I want to write a million words about the journey we have walked together. But words can only capture a small piece. Some things can only be said through art, or tears, or music, or hugs. 
I choose to keep fighting for us. To enjoy the moments we have, together. 
Me, You 
__________________ 
Last week, Matt and I made the decision to stop our pursuit of having a child/children. 
Our road through infertility was long. It was painful on every single level. My heart broke a thousand times. 
We fought hard, but it was time to lay down our armor and surrender. I never imagined that after 8.5 years we would choose to be childfree, I never thought that this would be our resolution. But the path led us to moments that brought everything into focus. Moments where I knew ... if we kept clawing at this door, if we continued our efforts of prying open the door to a future we thought we would always have... if we kept at it, it would break us.
And in every fiber of my being I knew, we had arrived at our resolution.
It would have been nice to get pregnant on our own. It would have been nice to have one of the five rounds of IVF result in a baby. It would have been nice if that little heartbeat we heard had stayed around longer than 8 weeks. 
It would have been nice.
But
That’s not the story that unfolded for us.
You don’t know how far this journey will take you... or where the road will lead. You don’t know when you first embark, if it will work or if you will survive. 
I know now, that I am enough, our small family is enough, our love is enough.
I’m so ready for life beyond infertility. For the adventures we have ahead. 
I’m so thankful for this painful, treacherous road... it taught me this:
Be who you are, love her, love love love, make things, it’s okay to not be okay, it’s okay to take care of yourself, breathe, you matter, you are enough & this wont last forever. 
🖤

Today Ellie only wanted to be outside.

She waited patiently for our walk and when the walk was rather short she seemed to ask for me to let her into the backyard. I knew it was probably our only chance for her to have some good outdoor time this week, but I also was feeling very productive and energized. My to-do list was getting tackled. It was warm-ish a nice 30*F and not too windy, so I let her out to explore the yard.
​but
I noticed she wasn't running into the small patch  of shoveled lawn. She wasn't sniffing the branches.  She wasn't rooting around underneath the deck.  She just was being still. 
For several minutes I watched her sitting on the edge of the deck. 

 And it moved me. 
It was as if my sweet little pup was sending me a reminder. To stop and be.
To go outside when the weather is warm enough and take it in.
​Breathe. Listen. Be Still.



 So I bundled up and took her to the walking trail.

Together we walked on the snowy path.
Breathing in the fresh crisp air.
Listening to the wind rustle through the branches.
Hearing the winter bird songs. 
Our steps muffled and our gait slow.
​

We took it all in. Stopping to smell or snap a photo. 

On our way back my glasses grew misty. It was raining or snowing. Just little tiny specs of water. Ellie's fur had collected mini snowballs and her sweater was damp. My cheeks were rosy, and my body warm.  
For a moment we stopped. I took a deep breath in, just as a Blue Heron took flight. He had been resting in a small pool of water nearby. Iced over at the edges the water was still moving, creating the most tranquil sound. A moment to be still within. 

For the remainder of the walk my brain was at work, creative sparks and ideas were bubbling to the surface.  It was as if our walk on the snowy trail path had pulled these thoughts together and brought them to life. 
​

Friends,
Work will wait. 
The world is calling us to come outside and breathe deep. If only for a few moments. 
And maybe,
it will be the thing your work needs. 
​~Jaci

I am
learning.
My friend and fellow artist lent me a book recently, ART/WORK
I am reading it slowly and deliberately. 
It is helpful in so many ways. 

In fact, 
the other day I began working on something that I really had no idea about. Something that you would learn about in art school, but since I didn't go to art school, I had no base knowledge but reading this book brought it up. 
​
And THAT  has me thinking...
The more I have jumped into my art career, the more I have learned. 
There are things that would've scared me and stopped me in my tracks if I knew about them all when I started out. 
  and as I write that,
I find it more true than ever. 
Personally, professionally, across the board. LIFE.

so much of life is 
jumping in and learning as you go.
There are things we don't even know yet. Things that may stop us in our tracks if we do.
so we don't know.
we learn
always learning.

a list of things I didn't know until I learned...
EVERYTHING!

​

So we begin 
2019

I am beginning this year craving a sense of calm. 
​
I have sat here, trying to force a blog post, which is very annoying. So I am going to stop doing that and write you a something else.

was I even hearing the rain

my mind was cluttered
​but that did not stop me
from adding to the pile
filling up the space with extra noise
so much noise

the to do's and should do's and have done and need to do's

my eyes settled on the view
just beyond the window from where I sat
it was raining
it was raining
it was raining
I've always loved the rain (I thought)
I'm going to sit and watch the rain (I thought)
I'm going to enjoy it, because it sounds so peaceful. 

so I sat 
and I watched
but the noise in my head
was too loud
 
the to do's and should do's and have done and need to do's
it was raining
it was raining
it was raining

later... when the sun came out
I found myself asking
​
​was I even hearing the rain?

It is so important for me to pause and reflect back on all of the happenings. Let's remember 2018 before it leaves us. 

This year I really enjoyed creating so many different pieces. I loved mixing medias and trying new things. Earrings were a hit, embroidery has also been a fun new addition. 

All of this and so much more. 

Process just as lovely as result. The journey and the destination. 
I see colors combined in ways I want to dive into. 
I see shapes and patterns in the changing leaves, the reflections, the air, the thoughts. 
Moments collected to form a life.

Did you stop and look? Did you breathe? Did you see the rain? Are you listening?

hello there,
I've been thinking of you. 
Wondering what would be the best way to return to you. 
Is there a wrong way? 
blogging is another form of art for me. It cannot be forced. It just needs to flow from the place that all of my work flows. And if I force it... we can all tell. 
So does returning have rules? guidelines? promises?
It's hard to say.
but let me tell you a story...

(The Story)

On a breezy October afternoon, sitting in front of her computer she received a phone call. 
It's not habit for her to answer calls from unknown numbers but today she did. 
A brief moment while phone connections flickered. She almost hung up. Then the line connected.
"Hello? Is this (name)"
She knew immediately that this wasn't a personal call or even a professional call. It was not a doctors office or political candidate. 
The voice on the line was making a sales call. Specifically about the website. Hers.
He spoke and  she could see where this was going, NO THANK YOU.
BUT
Did she know that her sight is TEMPLATE?- he spoke with disgust.
Did she know it doesn't show up in searches. Did she...
She did. She does.  And she is happy with her sight. Thank you anyways.
But that doesn't work. The person on the line, has a script to follow, the job they do depends on how well people react to the script. It is their job, and she knows this, and she hates this dynamic. But she really is fine with her website, and she isn't interested.
​So She politely stated that this was indeed okay with her. Thank you and good day. 
She hung up.

​That story was from today. In my real life. And it got me thinking.
Why can't it be okay for this space... my blog and website to be in a state of becoming? 
I mean... for me, it is okay. It is more than okay. It is how I want to model my life. Being fully me, actively growing and changing and evolving, a work in progress. It is how I approach my art, my studio, my life....
I don't need to be perfect. Perfect doesn't exist.  
​
I just kept thinking about the conversation, and how maybe my goals don't have to look like everyone else.  My pace and timing is for me to set. 

All this to say. Hello again. I'm here, I never really left. I just needed to write something that felt authentic and true... when I was ready. And tonight I felt ready. 
Thanks for being here. 

Friends! 
I've painted not one, not two but THREE murals and I assisted on another one!
A while back when my friend Jessica of Lit on Fire Used Books was opening her new location I worked with her on creating a very special mural for the shop. www.litonfireusedbooks.com/

Fast forward a year and I was approached by another Jessica. Fellow muralist and amazing artist friend of www.loveheylola.com/ She hired me to assist on a commissioned mural project. We painted her amazing tree designs on a local grade school. It was so much fun.

Then I began work on the Heart Wall Mural for LOVE WALL PEORIA. 
As part of the Peoria Public Art team I got to work on various aspects of #lovewall.  Working on the Heart Wall and lettering the fundraiser mural messages. 

And then....
Bethany from BushBaby reached out to me. She was looking to hire ME for a mural in the new location for Bushbaby. They were building all kinds of amazing new features in the new shop, including a Rental/Party room! 
Time was limited... could I do it?
YES YES YES!

I am so honored and grateful that Bethany hired me to do this mural. Here are some photos of the whole process. Enjoy!
And be sure to stop by BushBaby as they reopen their adorable store. Info for renting the party room and other info can be found at www.bushbaby.co/
​

Interested in hiring me for a mural of your own? 
Visit my contact page and send me an email. I'm happy to visit your location and give you a quote. 
​~Jaci Musec~

Once upon a time I blogged regularly. 
And then the app started crashing on my phone and ipad. I could only blog if I logged into the computer.  
It wasn't a huge deal really, just an extra step. And to be honest I much prefer typing on a keyboard. All was well... or at least fine. All was fine and I was mostly keeping to my regular scheduled blogs.
And then one day my husband took the laptop downstairs to work on. 
And I forgot about it.

That is the story of how I forgot to blog for two and a half months.  

Don't worry... I am ready to tell you all the things I did.

I visited Texas with my hubby. I watched the Peonies come and go. I had the most delicious dessert. I got new glasses & contacts. I took Ellie on plenty of walks. I got a haircut.  I went to the Farmer's Market as much as my schedule would allow. I thrifted and found some very cool things. I celebrated Cheeky Remix's birthday. I biked A lot! I visited murals and even got to help paint a few.  I did yoga. I painted. I went to art events. I drank so much coffee. I visited St. Louis. I worked on cleaning my home studio a tiny bit. I went to my uncles wedding. I had a pool day with friends.  I rearranged the coat closet. I had my mom and sister visit. I had my sister inlaw and mother in law visit.  I made new friends. I visited the new cyds. I snuggled Ellie. I stopped to smell the flowers. I worked on abstract embroidery. I got to visit with my friend Mal.  

so now you are all caught up. 

whew. Let's get back to regular blogs shall we?