I started working on this piece three weeks ago. King County was ground zero for the US outbreak and Seattle artists were some of the first and worst hit economically by the pandemic. As an artist myself, it was heartbreaking to see my community suddenly lose all their work (they’re still losing work). I wanted to write something that named not only our struggles, but also our resilience in the face of those struggles. Yet with bad news growing seemingly by the minute and my depression/anxiety along with it, writing became excruciating. I wasn’t sure I would ever finish. Happy to say, however, thanks to the support of family and friends and the determination of my own resilience, I FINISHED and the piece went live today, on my birthday! Gratitude to all the incredible artists who spoke with me for this special piece (you inspire me) and to the wonderful people whose encouragement got me to the finish line