Hi there! My name is Vance, and I’m glad you’re here!

I’m an artist, a writer, a crafter, a ponderer, a daydreamer. Or at least I can be when my brain turns on. I’m also living with moderate-to-severe depression, generalized anxiety, and sluggish cognition, which means that those passions I have just aren’t accessible to me much of the time and inspiration is a rare, fleeting quarry. I’m on something of a journey to recapture them as much as I can. This blog is about that journey. It’s about the creative process and sharing my work as much as it’s about mental health and building a satisfying life as a queer, mentally ill, single, low-income millenial. It’s about those identities, too–I so often find that the bloggers I love and communities I want to interact with on creating, journaling, and wellness are predominantly straight cisgender middle-class women raising families, often religious, often neurotypical or at least not speaking about any psychological challenges they may have. And hey, most of that’s great! I’m glad that women and moms get to have a place on the internet where they’re respected. But I often find myself feeling like I don’t quite fit in or finding it difficult to relate, so I want to use this blog to help create more of space for people like myself. I want a community with the warmth and creativity and whimsy of the pretty-planner community, the straightforwardness and cleverness of the lifehacker community, the wisdom of a dialectical behavioral therapy group, and the comfort of my queer, neurodiverse best friends. So that’s the target, more or less.

So what do I actually write about here? Journaling, habit tracking, and planning are my lifelines that get me through the days–not to mention help me notice the days passing by at all–so expect to see a lot on those topics. I’ll be talking about how I use those tools and giving advice on the ways I’ve learned to make the most of them. I’m hoping to just share my art and creations as well, and some words about how and why I create. And I’ll be speaking more generally about what life is like, about my struggles and my triumphs, hopefully in a way that either enlightens those who don’t share my identity or has some perspectives to offer that you might be able to apply to your own life. This blog is for folks working on their mental health who want tools and suggestions and commiseration, for amateur artists and writers and crafters (like myself) who want to swap inspiration and share in stories of finding your creative footing, and for anyone who wants to know what life is like for a person who’s different from them.

When it comes to my art, I’m very much still wandering and exploring. Between the intense schedule of college and the severity of my depression after leaving it, I’ve lacked either the time or the state of mind to do much art for a long time now. Instead of having a style or a preferred medium, I have an overabundance of curiosity, a million techniques and projects I’m dying to try when I get the chance. I’m working on illustration, graphic design, and fiction writing. I’m making zines and stickers and posters and planner printables. I’m trying to learn or work on comics, RPG Maker, digital 3D modeling, polymer clay, jewelry, painting, sewing, embroidery, weaving, and crochet. Basically, I want to create everything. It’s actually a bit stressful sometimes.

Some more about my life: I live in Pittsburgh, PA, USA, a city that I find vibrant and beautiful although it also has some serious problems to work on; it’s my hope to become more a part of the art community here, and the queer community as well. I’m 28 years old, living with roommates rather than family and intending to keep it that way; I culturally still identify strongly with the ‘college student lifestyle’ (by which I mean IKEA furniture and chosen family, not partying) despite having been out of college for several years now. I’m transmasculine, non-binary, and in the midst of my transition. It’s a big deal in some senses and in others it’s hardly a thing I think about at all, so I may or may not find myself with something to say about it. I’m always happy to talk about my trans experience if folks have questions, though.

I would love to know who’s reading and get to know you too! Feel free to leave a comment and tell me who you are and what things you’re passionate about.