May 2026
I am not used to posting a blog. Writing my thoughts in a journal, sure. Writing to post? Never. I felt inspired though and maybe there’s a reason for this I’m not aware of yet. I do not claim to be a writer. Even so, I hope that maybe you’ll find my reflections interesting. Maybe you’ll find some joy or (insert other feeling here) in my ramblings… So to whoever you are and my future self, thank you for being here and enjoy.
This May was filled with a lot of contrasting experiences. Some magical and seemingly cosmic timing coincided with back to back roadblocks and interruptions. While chaotic to say the least, I wouldn’t say it has been a bad month. It has definitely been eventful though.
May started off with a flight to my hometown with a suitcase full of new art. Constructed over long hours at the sewing machine and questioning my life choices, I was very proud of what I had made. I received the opportunity to install a show in my favorite cafe in Tulsa, Shades of Brown. The solo show was up for the whole month and after two sleepless nights of prep and installing I felt very accomplished. When I was younger, I had spent countless hours in this coffee shop. On the mismatched furniture, surrounded by eclectic lamps, I would study for hours, working toward my associates degree. On breaks I would ogle at the artwork they showed on rotation, dreaming of putting my work up someday. Wondering what I would display if I ever got the chance. And then there I was, work installed and hoping it lived up to all the pieces I had admired on those walls before. to put my work up at Shades was the completion of a cycle. I spent a few extra days in Tulsa with friends and family. I think I was there every day of my visit showing someone new the work that I was/am so proud of. I was incredibly grateful for the kind, admiration filled words I received from strangers during these visits. Their conversations stuck with me and made me feel like I was able to give back to a place that gave me so much. When I got back to Boise I found out that May was Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome awareness month. This only added to the significance of the show I had just installed. Work full of body, bone, and fascia lined the cafe’s walls. A manifestation of how I navigate the world with hypermobility and transmute my complex experiences to greater perspective. To say this was meant to be felt like an understatement.
Back in Boise, I was not ready for what the rest of the month had in store for me. I received an invitation to the Idaho Film Societies Award Gala and got to sit with some of my favorite community members and incredibly talented minds in the film industry. I was so nervous. It was the most formal event I have ever gotten to attend. I wore non-dance heels for the first time, and a formal dress snagged at clothing swap years prior. I had the rare glass of wine for myself and tried caviar for the first time. Unfortunately, I liked it. Once the awards started, I was surprised by the stature of people being honored that night. Some of these folks had been a part of some of my favorite movies. I felt honored to be a part of this moment in celebrating them. It was truly beautiful and I am so grateful to have been there. The night ended with chicken wings and fries at a local sports pub and may have been my favorite part.
The sparkling events of the month didn’t stop there. I was very gifted tickets to the Boise Symphony by a friend who couldn’t make it. The invite was random and in the middle of a very hectic week, but I said yes. I had never been to a symphony before and I was incredibly excited to attend one. They played Pines of Rome (and some other things I don’t remember) and I was so moved by the music and atmosphere. It made me consider music in a way that I hadn’t before. That maybe it could be described as a type of painting. I had always considered music to be art, but there was something about being there live. It was in that room, where the music could wrap around me, vibrate my being, that my understanding shifted. Deepened.
The rest of my month was filled with less sparkly things. A wallet stolen, water damaged floor, leaky air conditioning, broken dishwasher, catching a cold… For all the beauty and synchronicities I received this month also came the headaches of the day to day. I felt pulled away from my art and “the grind” of the freelance artist. I have a comic to write, an art book to edit, self promotion, and a thousand other things to do… and yet, here I am now, sick with a hole in my floor. I was reminded that timing works out how it is supposed to even when it comes in interruptions and roadblocks. This forced pause minding me that basing my value on how much I get done is not, in fact, very valuable. Life works in cycles, as noted in the glittering beginning of this month to the decidedly damp way it’s wrapping up. If nothing else, it has been a colorful month for sure.
-Kamryn Rose