Hi, I’m DeletedMushroomFanatic.
Hi, I’m DeletedMushroomFanatic. Or Deleted, for short. I earned that sobriquet from the creator of the above line art, which I colored. A running joke in his coloring group was to “delete” mischief makers (all in good fun and understood by all group members). As evidenced by my nickname, I caused a lot of mischief. I also love mushrooms…of the drawn variety. In particular, Chet Minton’s mushrooms.
So…why did I post a picture with no mushrooms? Because this picture was a Christmas/one month anniversary gift. My living husband commissioned it from my favorite artist, depicting my favorite animal (lelephant) and my favorite activity, coloring.
Why am I here?
(writing, that is.)
My life has had some bumps and twists. I’ve given birth to three wonderful children yet drank heavily for much of my adult life. I’ve been married to — and widowed from — a violent man, survived childhood despite opposition and the loss of my father at 13. I grew up in a half Catholic-half Fundamental Christian environment. I evolved from that through multiple other religions and ideas to my present journey through Knowledge and Buddhism. I once drew daily then stopped because I was told they weren’t good enough. Twice. Third time will be the charm.
My children are mentally scarred from their upbringing, and I agonize over that. We’ve seen some things, but together we are pretty strong. They are willing to ask for help, and that is so much more than I was taught.
Since my first husband passed away in 2014 I’ve quit drinking, recovering first with AA and my bff/sponsor, then moving on to alternative recovery options. You name it, I pry read it or researched it.
Besides that…
I quit smoking, lost weight, found exercise, found coloring, enjoyed my children, ran several 5k’s, gained weight, lost exercise, loved my children, carpooled for Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments, found my mom, had adventures, found a coloring family, and learned violin.
I learned how to trust myself, to have faith in my decisions, and worked to quiet the negative voices in my head. I learned to look for the positive and that as the mother of three boys all diagnosed with ADHD, it’s a gone conclusion that I have it, too.
Then…
I got my GED, got married, realized I had some pretty hard core friends, survived the pandemic as a newlywed — with teenagers, got my AA degree, got anti-depressants, am pursuing my BA, have worked full time all my adult life, quit my job of almost two decades, realized I hate my job of 28 years and want a new one before I get my degree and will be… an intern at a CGI studio.
Finally…
I wrote this so you could have an idea of what thoughts I will be writing and presenting. My “qualifications”, if you will. I plan to write about my experiences and share my thoughts and perspectives. Any of this seem familiar or interesting, follow me and check out my stories and art. I promise I’ll keep improving and growing and ever looking forward to learning more.
