Hello, friends. I am Melanie, and I'm not quite sure what this blog's purpose is just yet, but I have decided that it's okay to write into the unknown and just see what happens. I envision a design/calligraphy/self care/life update type of thing so far. I enjoyed blogging in the past, and I've missed it, so I hope I can keep up with this one.

But first, more introduction. Those who've known me for a while should understand the "Tiny Pants" moniker of this blog. Tiny Pants was a nickname given to me by the one and only Nick Vikos, and I have embraced this nickname pretty tightly since around 2006ish. Maybe later? I'm not sure because too much crap has happened since then.

The reason I say this is "sort of" my 1st blog post is because I used to do a weight loss journal type blog about ten years ago called "Mel's Journey to Tinier Pants." It evolved to the "Tinier Designier Pants" blog that involved more graphic design content in addition to my weight loss efforts, and now we are here. RIP, my old blogs. I hope you're out there somewhere floating around in in internet heaven.

Let's pretend the stock photo above is me writing in all my past blogs.
Just look past the fact that I've never been that skinny nor am I white.

Approaching Midlife Crisis Mode
About three months ago, I was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML). So outside of being exhausted or working, I've had quite some time to (over)think about what the hell am doing with my life. I have a few more months until I turn 40, and I feel like I need to put some urgency on figuring out exactly what I really want to do when I grow up.

While I am fortunate to have enough to get by, and I do enjoy my current job most of the time, I have to come to terms with the fact that I haven't felt truly fulfilled with my career for a while now. Thoughts such as: "Do I still even want to do graphic design and calligraphy?" "Do I want to go back to school to get my Masters? If so, in what?" "I really want to do something that will help people with their mental health," "I want to quit everything and just make stickers," and "Maybe I should sell stuff online..." have been racing through my mind.

The whole CML thing has got my head in a spin about what to do next to try to make this world suck less and my life feel more worthwhile. If you're curious, my CML prognosis is going rather well so far, and thankfully, CML is one of the most treatable cancers. I don't even have to do chemo to treat it. While it definitely has not been all fun and games, I am thankful that everything has been "ok" for the most part. I am sure there will be more posts about my CML journey to come.

Come With Me, and You'll Be...
Reading stuff that I find worth sharing...

You did that to the tune of "Pure Imagination," right? I sure hope so. But yes, please do stop back by here periodically to see if I've written anything. I will do my best to share when I've updated this blog on my socials. Go follow me on all the things! (All socials are posted on the header of my website. Sorry, y'all, I'm lazy. Just scroll back up.