From the Compost Heap header. A pencil style illustration of a compost heap with flowers and plants growing around it. A bee buzzes by and a white rabbit hops by.

  • Chaos Gardening: Tips from a Chronically Ill & Neurodivergent Gardener

    Chaos Gardening black and white zine among blooming daisies in my garden. The title is cut out magazine letters and peony leaf rubbings are overlaid. The subtitle readers: tips from a chronically ill and neurodivergent gardener.

    I think I’m finding my groove with zine making. I had a lot of fun going analogue this month and in addition to my typewriter I also incorporated collage and nature rubbings.

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    The back of the zine. You can read some text typed on my typewriter and see peony leaf rubbings. The text reads: VI. No dig• A few strategies I use to minimize pain are: No dig garden beds (areas with soil piled on cardboard). Cardboard lined raised beds. A low gardeningstool (B to avoid back pain & dizziness). Suppressing weeds (minimizing weeding) with cardboard or spare paving stones. Anything that will block sunlight & not blow away will do. A Kindle Curiosity Zine. May 2025.

    Read more: Chaos Gardening: Tips from a Chronically Ill & Neurodivergent Gardener
  • Survivor CBS screencap. Eva confides to Joe, "There are times when I get super overstimulated, I call them episodes. I'll be stuck in a loop in my head and the thing that I need to do it to get grounded. What I need from you is getting squeezed. Take my hands and squeeze as much as possible." The second image shows Joe and Eva forehead to forehead squeezing her hands to coregulate.

    This season of Survivor was close to my heart.

    Read more: untitled post 156078837

  • A Very Merry Unbirthday 🎶

    I’m still celebrating!

    Last week, on my actual birthday, one of my favorite chapters from the Wheel of Time was adapted to screen. So I am having a great month.

    As my gift to you, anyone who joins the zine subscription this month, will get a bonus Wheel of Time mini zine. 🥰

    If you want to print any of these zines to hype the show you can download them here.

    The “I’m Fine” Zine

    This month I wrote about creating safe spaces and regulating nervous systems in “unprecedented times.”

    You can read the digitized version here.

    An embroidery frame holds a cross stitch that reads "I'm Fine". Back cover shows the reverse of embroidery hoop which is a tangled mess of navy blue thread. Text at bottom says March 2025. A Kindle Curiosity Zine.

    The work on the cover has been exhibited in several different galleries and is part of the My Brain on Motherhood collection as part of my ARIM.

    Sculpture

    I’ve also spent a substantial amount of time this month working on a sculpture called Bloom Where You’re Planted from a dead cherry tree.

    You can read about the process here.

    Here I am cleaning mud off the root.

    My hand using a Swedish washcloth to remove a final layer of mud off a twisty tree root.

    Time Blind Supports

    I’m making a concerted effort to spend more time creating and less time on admin this year. One of the tools I’m using for this is logging my time with spreadsheets and charts.

    As someone with time blindness I can very easily sink time into something without realizing.

    Seeing time visually has made a huge difference for me!

    Pie chart. Web 59%, Zines 21%, Other 10-%, Mawd 4%, Picture book 3%.

    If you’re curious about this process you can click here to read more about what I’m doing and what impact it’s having.

    Bar chart showing admin going down and create time going up from Jan to March
    time spent on admin vs. creating in jan, feb & march (so far)

    The LOST podcast episode.

    Last month, in all my excitement about The Wheel of Time, I completely forgot to tell you I published a ramble podcast. I’ll be doing these on an ad hoc basis moving forward. (If you enjoy listening let me know!)

    I haven’t managed to migrated podcast episodes off Substack yet.

    Listen here for now.

    This is essentially a brain dump I recorded in January reflecting on my creative ecosystem, closing loops, and my intentions for moving into a new year.

    When I migrate off Substack I’m thinking of calling this a “Brain Dump Podcast” to remind myself it’s okay to be messy. Here’s some possible podcast art. Not my normal color palette, but maybe my kid’s love of all things rainbow is rubbing off on me.

    Drawing of brain with colorful paint splatters over the top

    Wait, there’s more!

    Of everything I’m sharing I spent the most time and energy on this.

    If you’ve struggled to learn a second language later in life – it may not be for the reasons you think. I’d love to know what neurodivergent folks think of this post.

    Learning a Second Language as a Neurodivergent Student (Child or Adult!)

    I also wrote some thoughts about From Where You Dream. A book about storytelling from your unconscious.

    From Where You Dream
    Time Travel banner. Hand drawn illustrtation of TARDIS in space surrounded by swirling lines and stars.

    Just two posts in the TARDIS time hop this month.

    If you have time to check out my 360 VR work I’d love to know what you think.

    This Time in 2023

    Making 360 VR with a 3 year old collaborator ✨
    More Reaching Than Rooting

    While I was at it I also created a landing page for free resources and printables.

    https://sarahshotts.com/free
    Ways to Support drawing of a white rabbit hopping into flowers

    The Compost Heap is handmade without the use of AI. 🐝

    Support doing things the old fashioned way by joining my Patrons ($5) and I’ll send paper copies of my zines with the coolest postage stamps I can find.

    Overhead shot of zine test prints and my green typewriter.
    Test PRINTS FOR MARCH’S “I’m Fine” ZINE

    Not into snail mail?

    Here are other ways you can support.

    • Share my blog with a friend. (It’s free!)
    • Buy a book or zine from my (new!) shop.
    • Link to me in your newsletter.
    • Art swap! Let me know if you’d like to swap your art for a zine.
    • Send me an email and let me know what resonates.
    Drawing of a tin can telephone and the words Let's chat

    If you’re reading this in your email inbox you can just hit reply to message me directly. I’d love to hear what you think. It makes it worth the time I put in.

    Thanks for being here.

    I appreciate you.

    Sarah signed with a swoopy S

    P.S. One downside to emailing each month instead of weekly is that there is SO MUCH to cover. I’ve almost given up on sharing links because I have too many to narrow down. But the 15 hours a month I’ve recovered to spend on other projects seems worth the trade off.

    If you want a suggestion… Watch the Wheel of Time. 😉

    A misty location with two figures suspended within three silver rings

    Read more: A Very Merry Unbirthday 🎶

  • Seeing Time ⏳

    As someone with time blindness I can very easily sink time into something without realizing.

    This year I’m experimenting with spreadsheets and time charts as tools to visualize time. Here is how 2025 has been looking (as of March 24.)

    January

    I had a lot of loops to close in January and it felt like a ton of admin. This was my first month tracking my time. The pie chart was a game changer. I started it mid month and the wedges for web & self publishing dominated the chart. It took conscious effort to put more time into personal projects to balance the chart out.

    Pie Chart shows Writing 31%, Web 32%, Entwined & Ember 20%, Artist Residency in Motherhood 15%.
    This chart visualizes how much time I spent on each creative project.

    Writing & Research (31.9%)

    Most of this was my fantasy novel Mawd.

    Web (32.9%)

    Mostly Substack – my own newsletter & wrapping up Neurokind.

    Entwined & Ember (20.1%)

    Admin for self publishing these books.

    ARIM (15.1%)

    This is time spent on my Artist’s Residency in Motherhood making visual art for My Brain on Motherhood.

    February

    This month my biggest wedge was redesigning my website. But seeing how big the blue wedge was motivated me to make time for other things.

    Pie chart. Web 59%, Zines 21%, Other 10-%, Mawd 4%, Picture book 3%.

    Web (59.0%)

    Redesigning my website and migrating my newsletter to Buttondown.

    Zines (21.1%)

    Making Not About TETRIS and working on illustrations for a zine about the spectrum of neurodivergence. My scanner died this month and created a lot of headaches.

    Other (10.3%)

    Designed two self inking stamps (folks with zine subs will see these soon) and sewing patches on a denim jacket.

    Mawd (4.4%)

    Work on my fiction novel. I’m in an ideation phase.

    Picture Book (3.6%)

    Admin for self publishing How it Feels to Me.

    March

    My website wedge is still the largest (although I have a few days to go) based on shop and subscription migration headaches. I hope to continue making this wedge smaller over time.

    Pie chart wedges in order of size: web, zines, Mawd, other, ARIM, garden.

    Web (38.9.0%)

    Moving zine subs from Big Cartel to Stripe, redoing various opt ins, migrating Neurokind to Beehiiv, archiving March blog posts, and writing for blog & newsletter.

    Zines (21.1%)

    Making I’m Fine zine and a few Wheel of Time mini zines.

    Mawd (12.9%)

    Work on my fiction novel. Still in an ideation phase.

    Other (10.1%)

    Sewing patches & picture book admin (maybe that should be separated.)

    ARIM (9.2%)

    Working on Bloom Where You’re Planted.

    Gardening (4.8%)

    I debated over logging this, but it is important self regulating work and part of my creative ecosystem.

    Reducing Admin Time

    I also did a bar chart showing the different parts of the process to see that balance.

    Here you see Admin & Prep decreasing and time to Create growing from January to March.

    I’m 90% sure this shift would not have happened without this visual tool. It’s too easy to get pulled into neverending admin and website tweaks. This makes me more aware.

    Bar chart showing admin going down and create time going up from Jan to March

    Top Tip

    I found tracking the time itself really hard until I started using the Tap When app. (Not a sponsor.) I tap when I start and tap when I finish. No math!

    P.S. My spreadsheets are in no condition to officially share as a resource, but if you’d like to see the imperfect version I’m working with I’m happy to share the template for you to make your own. Just drop me a line or respond to a newsletter.

    Image Credit: Prague Astronomical Clock via Wiki Commons

    Read more: Seeing Time ⏳