angieblue

Things I Love and random facts:
I <3 quotes!
I <3 alternative art!
I <3 lowbrow art
I am a high school English Teacher
I am a poet/writer
I <3 documentaries
I am Latina, Chicana
I <3 the LGBTQ community
I <3 Mexican Folk Art
My favorite color is blue
I <3 pinups!
I <3 Classic Cars and lowriders
I am MAD about Alice in Wonderland!
I <3 Dia de los Muertos art
I <3 Filipino Culture
I <3 things that have to do with literature/books/writing
I <3 typewriters
I <3 vintage memorabilia
But more than anything...I just <3 getting mail!

"We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” Charles Bukowski

“I need the thing that happens when your brain shuts off and your heart turns on.”
― Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation

HERE IS AN EXCERPT OF A PERSONAL ESSAY I WROTE TO EXPLAIN WHY SNAIL MAIL BECAME PART OF MY WELL-BEING:

The chair rolled back and the doctor picked up the clipboard again. “Go home, find one of those photos of yourself as a child, and put it somewhere you will see it often. Everyday, do something that would have made that little girl smile. It may sound silly, but as it is, you aren’t happy now and from what we’ve discussed you may not have been happy growing up; so do that little girl a favor, make her smile. It may heal you too.”

That day, I found the picture. I was about 5 or 6 and I wore a Santa hat and did not make eye contact with the photographer. I was looking off to the side…no smile. Next to the box of photographs there was a box labeled “Scrapbooking stuff.” In it, I found some old postcards and magazine cut outs, a deck of 5X7, multicolored paper, glue sticks and other random craft things. What happened next was a complete miracle. I planned my activity. First, I played some music, I lit some sage, I grabbed a drink, sat on the floor, scattered all the items as far as I could reach, and covered rectangle after rectangle of colored paper with a tiny collage and a short message on the back. I had a pretty good stack of handmade postcards when I was done and applied stamps and addresses of the people closest to me…even if they lived down the street! This was a new “purge” for me. I was sending a little piece of myself to all the people I care about. It really got me thinking… I did it for “little Angie” and “older Angie” felt good.

It reminded me of a quote I read earlier that week, “when a child gives you a gift, even if it is a rock they just picked up, exude gratitude. It may be the only thing they have to give, and they have chosen to give it to you. ― Dean Jackson”

In that moment I understood that although I didn’t have much to give, I gave myself, as well as the recipients of my handmade postcards, a little something and in that small gesture lay the comfort that even the slightest distraction had its merit.

IF YOU READ THIS, THANK YOU! IF NOT, COMPLETELY FINE... JUST THOUGHT I'D SHARE
: )