The past two months have been challenging times for me and my extended family. In late August, my second cousin's husband died suddenly in a car crash in Morocco at the age of 61. His death sent waves of grief and shock through my entire extended family and has left us all feeling sad, disoriented and stressed. Just when you think things can't get grimmer...they do.

On Friday of last week, my mother suffered a stroke which not only threatened her life but also took a swipe at her ability to speak and make sense of words. One week later things have stabilized a bit and I am happy to say that she is out of hospital and making good progress, but I find myself in a state of vigilance and apprehension as if to be waiting for the third "blow" to arrive.

Perhaps I would be wise to include this week's stock market implosion as number three, and call it a day.

Last night, while waiting for my mother's prescription to be filled at the pharmacy, I felt a strange and phantom-like dizziness between my ears. It felt new, different, not something I have felt before; perhaps it's a warning sign from my body to slow down, to take the pressure off.

My creative projects will just have to wait until I regain my balance. There are no deadlines to meet beyond the ones I have placed on myself; only my own desire to finish things, which frankly seems to have left me at this time.

The studio is all set up and ready to go but the impulste to be "creative" just isn't here right now. I expect it will return once the dust settles a bit.

And so, a new day begins...