Day 760. We made it 760 days without missing a daily post. I drew, researched, and wrote everyday for over 2 years to make them – despite the times where I was sick, on vacation, busy with work, or quote unquote a bit burned out. I posted when I was recovering from a fractured rib, when I was at Disney World for 5 days, and during countless events in between. I did anything and everything to keep doing what I love, but no matter how determined I was, I could only prepare for so much.
Yesterday, my girlfriend and I arrived back at our apartment from a weekend trip to find a huge portion of our belongings had been soaked by a freak flash flood. Expensive things like my car, to priceless things like my Pokémon card collection I started when I was 8 years old, were ruined by the flooding. My old drawings I made back as a third grader (only the best ones were kept, of course), my old Nintendo 64 and PS2 that I grew up playing, and even simple things like our bed, some of our food, and the cassette player I got from my grandpa, were either soaked, damaged, or went bad from the water damage and power outage.
I can stay strong through many physical ailments, but it’s hard seeing so many important things from my childhood get thrown out. Even for the things that haven’t been thrown out yet, they are in limbo to see if they can dry out and be salvaged. I could try flipping this into a post about how global warming is causing an increase in the amount of extreme weather events in many areas, or how the intensity of storms is constantly rising, but with a heavy heart, I think I have to leave it with this: Pixel Planet Today will have to be put on hold until things are looking a bit brighter. I’ve made it so far without taking a break, but it’s just too much to handle right now. Until I can get back on my feet and can come back to the project with the same gusto that has carried me this far, it’ll have to remain on the back burner. But just like someone once said, “This isn’t goodbye, it’s just ‘see you later'”. With much love, keep doing what you can to save the planet and our wildlife, Sammy 🌍❤️
**This entry was initially shared as a daily Pixel Planet Today post on Instagram and Facebook.