Dream A Little Dream
I love writing almost as much as I love making things, so getting to write a blog on my online store’s website is pretty supah-calee-fragi-listic, you know?
I’ve been playing around with the idea of selling what I make for a long time, and that crazy Worldwide Coronavirus Pandemic Thing (hereafter to be known as WCPT) that we all just went through pretty much solidified it. I think the WCPT did that for a lot of people. Actually, I can think of a much better acronym than WCPT, but this is a G-rated site.
One of my favorite memes says “Life is Short. Eat the cake. Buy the shoes. Sleep with the guitar player.” I would add “Start the business already!” to that list. So yes, here I am, ready to put my wares out in front of the world to be viewed, possibly criticized, hopefully admired and purchased. Wares that I have lovingly crafted with my own two little hands (and I’ve got the cuts and scrapes to prove it). It’s scary, this whole putting-yourself-out-there thing, but not as scary as getting to The End and feeling regret that I didn’t do the things I wanted to do because I let fear get in the way.
Let’s be clear, though: deciding to start a business and getting it up and running are two oh-so-very different things. I know a lot about making things. What I know about running a business is a much smaller body of knowledge! It’s not really a body, it’s more like a thimble-ful of knowledge. However, when fear overtakes me at approximately 2:13AM and I wake up in a cold sweat, thinking “What am I doing?!”, there is collective voice that counters with “It’s okay. You’re smart. You’re resourceful. You’ll make mistakes, big and small, and just like everything else in your life - you will hopefully learn from them. Keep going. This is your dream, and you will figure it out one piece at a time.”
This collective voice - it’s made of many, many good things and people. My mom’s voice is in there, so is my brother John’s voice - both beloved to me and, even though they aren’t here any longer in a physical sense, still so very present in spirit. Both of them believed so much in me, more than I believed in myself for a long time. Life experience is in there too, and the encouragement of my family and friends. Also in the mix is a good dose of hard-earned self love.
My store is called 62 threads mercantile. 62 is the age I was when I actually filed my business registration papers. Threads because, well, the obvious reference being that my medium is fabric, thread and needle. But also, because every one of my 62 years has been a thread in the strange, beautiful, sometimes complicated and messy tapestry of my life so far. It’s probably corny, but hey - who doesn't like some corn occasionally? Hot, with a little salt and pepper and butter? Yes, please! Wait, I’m getting off-topic. My point is that I want my business to have meaning in my life. Will I become a gazillionaire (millionaires are so 1980, puh-lease) from it? Yeah, probably not. Will it give me a creative outlet, something to supplement my social security income, something to eventually “retire” into? Yes, I hope so. But really, I see it as an opportunity to use my creative gifts and make some beautiful things to put out into the world. Maybe even some useful things! Crazier things have happened, right? RIGHT?! And lastly, the store’s name is styled in lower case because I want it to be fun. I generally do try to take serious things seriously - and it is hard work - but I believe you can work hard and have fun too. Because I’m all crazy and idealistic like that, even at (now) 63. I hope I never lose that…it’s one of my favorite parts of me.
So yeah, here I am, making and writing and working and living. If you’re reading this and you got this far - Thank You. So Much. Really. Thank you for being interested in my store, in the things that I make, in the crazy stuff that goes on in my brain, and by extension…interested in me. I hope you have some fun while you’re here, and that you’ll visit often. I hope I can be part of your collective voice too, the voice that encourages you to do the thing you love even if you are a little afraid. Or a lot afraid. You can do it. You are intrepid. So am I. And I love that about us.
❤️ Bonnie
