We're only just over two weeks into the new year, and as a podcaster I listen to said the other day, it feels more like a year than a scant fifteen days. The news cycle has been relentless and maddeningly full of gaslighting. I do try to keep this blog as upbeat as possible, so I'll save my rants for Facebook (or my sister), but suffice it to say, we are currently living through a strange and disturbing mix of Idiocracy, 1984, and The Handmaid's Tale.
|
| Highly relatable comic by Emily McGovern |
Ursula LeGuin wrote that "resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art---the art of words." Outside of voting and calling my representatives, I am but one woman with limited resources and power. But I can write, and even if I'm just writing about history and where model horses fall into that history, I will always do my best to share facts and the sources from which they came. Telling the truth and combating nonsense and conspiracy theories is just as important in our hobby as it is in the bigger world.
So that said, the universe gave me a pretty solid shove over the holidays to get myself in gear and start devoting real time to all of the model horse history projects I want to do that have been languishing on mental back burners for too long. I already had vague plans of creative and self-improvement New Years resolutions for 2026, but a trip home to see my family a few weeks ago kick-started an exercise regimen and a serious Marie Kondo-style look at everything. A few days into my trip, a plumbing issue necessitated that we reevaluate the multitude of books in my parents' basement to make space for more important things (model horses) while the leak was addressed. My sister and I hauled 60 heavy paper-ream boxes of books out of the basement, sorted them, and donated the vast majority of them to local shelters and charities. We are determined to do the same with more stuff in the parental basement, but maybe at a less knee-wrecking pace. (Stairs + heavy boxes = sore for days.)
The surprise downsizing adventure while visiting my parents has inspired me reinforced my plans to declutter my own living space as well. Part of my reorganization plan involves new shelves (insert angelic choir noises here) where I can not only display more of my collection but also have some space to assess the models I plan to part with. (Do I really need 20 classic Kelso models? Probably not.) I also intend to devote a shelf or two to current custom projects so I
can finally wrap up all of my commissions and take a break to paint some models for myself.
Bringing order to the material chaos will definitely help me bring some order to the mental chaos. I have a hard time doing creative things---writing, painting, coding websites, etc---when there is clutter distracting me from what I should be doing. Tidying up customizing bodies, books, reference materials, and knick knacks will be such a huge help.
Which brings me to the aforementioned metaphysical kick in the pants. I am hoping to make this the year I finally get serious about updating my Model Horse History website. It's very HTML 1.0 at the moment, so that needs some aesthetic modernizing work, but more than anything, I really just want to create an encyclopedic database of model horses reference materials, both hobby published works and company produced ads, publications, etc, for everyone in the hobby to utilize. As I've said before, history should be shared, and I have a ridiculous amount of reference materials I've collected over the years that I need to digitize and upload.
I'm also slowly working on an Identify Your Hartland site (with the blessings of the late Janice Cox, so that tells you how long I've been needing a cattle prod more encouragement to get a move-on.) I will definitely need to crowd source information and pictures for the site since my own Hartland collection is limited to a few specific interests.
All of that will keep me quite busy without a doubt, but I also absolutely intend to spend time just doing creative things for my own peace of mind---painting models, messing around with water colors, and picking up long neglected cross stitch projects. Art and creativity are a source of self-care, of joy, and especially of a more zen mental space to combat the fear and despair.
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.
 |
