It seems that my dear Brewskie Butt (AKA The Brew) has gotten his whiskers out of joint. Brewskie, my incorrigible yet loveable spokes
cat, has started feeling a bit neglected in the attention department, since there are now 5 felines in my house. The latest addition to the family, Okey, has her own global following, and Brewskie is feeling a bit jealous.
Brewskie actually is quite fond of Okey, but he seems to work harder now for my attention, often resorting to obnoxious behavior. The other day, he got quite miffed because I yelled at him. I was miffed at him too – he dug his claw in my ear!
Anyway, he has decided that he needs to “show me” and the world that he is still important and relevant.
To do this, he is going on a virtual tour around the world to visit the friends he has made in various locations. Each day in May, he is going to visit a new city and/or geographical region around the globe. A drawing of him in a new place will appear here on this blog every day, and you will be able to bid on the drawing in an auction. When he returns home after his long trip, we plan to make a book featuring the best of the drawings.
Oh yes, and he plans to leave a clue every day as to where he will be going the next day on his blog, Just Meowin’. So make sure you check there and see if you can guess where he is going next!
Just so you know, I still love Brewskie Butt very much, and I have no doubt that he still loves me, too. I support his desire to seek adventure, but he has a welcome lap when he decides to return home.
So where do you think will be his first stop on his worldwide journey? Check here later in the day and find his clue. And get ready to bid! These original drawings are going to be quite collectible, since they will be the focus of my first book.
Doubts. We all have them – negative thoughts that collide with our self confidence and rock our intrepid spirits. I suspect that even the strongest, most courageous people are plagued with doubts on occasion.
As a child, I was very timid and completely paralyzed with self doubt at times. I overcame the paralysis as a young adult, and I learned to trust my value and purposes. Doubts still crept in, but I translated them into motivators for increasing my value, instead of allowing them to diminish me.
Now in the latter years of my forties, and in the midst of career change, I find myself succumbing to self doubt in ways similar to the ways of my youth.
AAUGH!!! Why have I returned to my old habit of thinking I am the proverbial Charlie Brown blockhead???
Change itself brings insecurities. Changing my career path has put me in completely different arenas of professional engagement than those from my previous endeavors, and the new arenas are unfamiliar to me.
Once a service provider for the less fortunate in the world (mental health counselor), I now am making a living creating a product that is considered a luxury (fine art). My consumers are a different demographic and my colleagues are of a completely different mindset. Not only do I have to adapt to new methods of earning a living (business skills are not in my DNA), I also have to overcome biases and prejudices that I have developed over the years working in the non-profit service sector.
Couple that with my natural artistic brooding and critical eye to the ways of business (artists are programmed to resent the business world for some reason), and I become my own Lucy pulling the football away as I, like Charlie Brown, am about to boot it down the field.
Good Grief, Charlie Brown!
Luckily, I have friends, colleagues and mentors bearing with me and helping me navigate this new world that I have thrust myself into. With their help, I am moving forward instead of letting my doubts paralyze me. And I am finding resources to help me develop new capacities.
I am attending a business institute for artists, which is helping me learn new skills as well as confront the self defeating behaviors interfering with my success. I am meeting with a business mentor who is patiently helping me learn the ways of the business world. I am following up on leads to increase my network of business connections. And I am exploring different ways to make my artwork more accessible, yet still profitable enough to give me a sustainable income.
I love Charlie Brown, but I don’t want to be him. So I am taking a glance back at my old journals where I wrote about overcoming self doubt in the past. What did I do then that I am not doing now? Looking back can sometimes help you move forward.
Despite the doubts, there are exciting things about the new directions I am pursuing. I am on a new journey and a grand adventure. I wonder where it will lead me next?
Do you have doubts about your current place in life? What are you doing to allow them to be motivators for increasing your value instead of allowing them to diminish you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please share in the comments.
I told my cat Slick’s story in June of 2009 on my old blog. I wanted to repost it here, because, well, I just did. The drawing of her above is new. (If you are interested, it can be purchased for $50 plus shipping. Contact me if interested.)
Slick was recently diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure (CRF), so her health has really been on my mind. She is doing well and is not very symptomatic at this point, but I obviously have to pay a whole lot more attention to her care now. She is now on medications and prescription food and we have a new water fountain for her pleasure. (She does love the thing!)
I am doing some research to learn more about CRF. I am learning that cats can live for a number of years after diagnosis, so I am not going to get all sad about this. I would appreciate any information you may have about CRF, however. Please share any resources that you have in the comments or send me an email. Thanks!
Here is Slick’s story if you would like to know more about my sweet girl.
If you follow Brewskie Butt on Twitter (BZTAT Studios official spokescat and my most incorrigible feline), you will often hear him grumbling about Slick. Slick is the oldest cat in my home, and she is also Brewskie’s nemesis. The two have been jealous of each other since the day the Brew first joined us.
Brewskie gets jealous because he knows that there is something very special between Slick and me. I have a special relationship with each of my cats, truthfully, but Slick and I go way back, and Brewskie knows it. He doesn’t like it much.
Slick came into my life in the summer of 1995. A small oil spill caused by a pipeline rupture had filled the Tuscarawas River near my home with black oily goo. I volunteered with the wildlife rescue for the spill, as many ducks and geese were harmed by the oil that invaded their habitat. Along with the wildlife, the rangers also brought in a calico kitten who had been romping along the riverbed.
I already had two cats at the time, Beezie (read about Beezie here) and Bub. I had no intentions of taking in any more cats. But there was something about this little kitten…The rangers thought that she had oil on her because of the black patches in her fur, but that turned out to be her natural markings. She did have an injured paw, though. I was concerned that she would not be saved if they took her to the Humane Society. The local HS was a fine organization, but was overwhelmed, and not likely to treat an injured animal.
I made the mistake of putting my hand in the cage that held the kitten. She purred and loved on me so sweetly, there was no way this cat was going to the Humane Society. The rangers gladly allowed me to adopt her. She was named Slick after the oil spill, and she has been with me ever since.
A minor surgery fixed her paw, and Slick quickly took over my home. She and Bub became friends quickly, and they were best buds until Bub went to the Rainbow Bridge in 2004. Beezie never quite warmed up to her, but she tolerated her, much the same way that Slick tolerates Brewskie today.
Slick and her best pal Bub
Slick tormenting Beezie
Slick became an indoor-only cat at my home. She was pretty wild at first, and obviously missed climbing trees. She loved to climb up on high things like the refrigerator, kitchen cabinets and curtain rods. She has always been a silly character, doing kooky things. She settled down somewhat after a couple of years, but she continues to enjoy high places. She still gets the zoomies now and then, and she is still kooky. She loves the nip and gets drunk as a skunk whenever she partakes.
Slick pretending the cabinets are a tree
Slick has always been a great cuddler, and her short tortoise shell colored fur is very soft. Brewskie gets very jealous when she and I cuddle.
I always considered Slick to be my baby. She was younger than Beezie and Bub, and she always just acted younger. Things changed, however, when Beezie went to the Rainbow Bridge in 2003 and Bub in 2004. She and I were both lost without our other pals. She especially missed Bub, with whom she was particularly close.
I knew that Slick would need another companion, as I was often gone for most of the day. A friend directed me to a family that had newly born kittens, and I brought home Noah. Noah proved to be a bit too aggressive for Slick, so I brought home Brewskie to redirect him a bit. Now Brewskie is best buds with Noah in much the same way that Slick and Bub had been. My mother’s cat named “Who” joined us in March 2008 when Mom had to go into a nursing home.
Slick and Brewskie
Although I got the others to keep her company, Slick has never really forgiven me for bringing these monsters into her home! She has always treated them with disdain. Brewskie, knowing that I always protect Slick when he or one of the others picks on her, gets especially jealous when I cuddle with her. He seems to think that I favor her.
I love all my cats dearly. But the Brew maybe right. I do sometimes show Slick special attention, because of our history and because she is so much older than the others. Can you blame me?
And that is the story of Slick.
P.S. – Since this was written, we have added another cat into the mix – Okey. Slick tolerates Okey much more appreciatively than the others, as Okey learned pretty quickly not to mess with her. Brewskie is more jealous than ever that Slick now gets even more special treatment. He has actually been treating her a little bit more kindly, though, since he now has Okey to divert his attention.
