I always feel its best to set an intention. I tend to learn something simple and then apply it to my life in general. I have been understanding more and more that the way I want to be a small business is not by working 24/7. It’s not by breaking my neck (even further). My body and my nervous system can’t handle it anymore. I’m not a factory.

Over the next forever I will be transitioning from a dominant, hustle culture, business/product driven plan, to something more aligned to me, to a creative practice that includes all my loves; fiber, collage, sketchbook, writing, and photography. I have come to think about htis as the Grandmother Model and the Empress Path. I'll eventually write about both of these on this blog.

I have always thought of myself as a write first. Even when I wasn’t writing, even when I was only stitching. I bought into the idea that to have followers on social media you need to have a very specific brand, a niche that’s just you so people can find you and marvel at how beautifully one sided you are. This created this shame in me that I’m actually not just one thing. I’m a lot of things. I’m an artist. In my work, in my lifestyle, in my personality, in my multiple mental illnesses and in every cell of my both. By denying “artist” and thinking of myself as “quilter” only I’ve ignored so much of myself to try to make people like me. It’s so clear now. I’ve been trying to make a career, to make money, to be able to sustain myself with my work. I’ve honestly made about 1,000 the last ten years on my work. Total. About $100 a year. Thats not counting reading cards. Cause I did make some cash on that before the pandemic, before everyone got their own deck and the fad faded out. And that’s fine. I really don’t want to read anymore. But I still love cards. I still want to talk about them.

All of this to say that I have lots of ideas. I try most of them. Well, maybe I used to try all of them. I’ve been bitching about a creative block for the last two years or so because I’ve been ignoring the creative things that aren’t quilting.

My intention is still to sustain myself with my work. Maybe in this lifetime I won’t be able to pay off my house by selling. Maybe art collectors won’t want my work. But maybe for the advancement of my soul, and for my mental health. I just simply accept who I am. I perceive that to be confusing. But who cares. I’m working on not anymore. We all only have so much time on earth. I want to use it making things that feel interesting to me. To write about creative practice, to make tools and games that I can use and I can share to get us through the blocks, because it always feels better when we are making. To help us get through late stage capitalism and the current fascist regime.

The container I’m curating is:

Teresa Fiehn Millies making Left Hand Crafts from my Raw Edge Studio.

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What Kind of Maker Are you? Quiz