Hi!
So, I used to run a blog called Happily Unemployed Women. This is past tense for a couple of confusing reasons, even to me. One, I seemingly have no idea what email address I used to get into that blog, so I have 12 confused followers wondering where I've gone to since December 2010. The second reason is that I realized I was most likely alienating a large portion of the population. I suppose roughly 50%. Because there are certainly men out there who are artisans, malcontent with the fact that corporate life seems to be the only validated form of work these days, and I apologize to you hard working studs whom I have previously left on the wayside.
So...for lack of access, and a rethinking of my audience, here we go again with this blog!
I suppose you're wondering who I am? Well, most likely, I am like you. I was born in the wrong century, doubtless. I am an artist who was born with two right brains. The term "artsy fartsy" has been used next to my name in a sentence more than once. "Dreamer" and "lazy" are two words that have been incredibly confusing to me but have been attached to me nonetheless. And I have secretly burned inside at the comments "You don't really work, though." and "Why don't you get a real job?" more times than I can count. And that's not for a lack of the ability to count extremely high.
I long to make my living crafting and creating, selling my art, networking, creating awareness for those like myself, and giving back to my community. I want to make my own way through life. I have no interest in working 8 to 5 for a millionaire so he can pay me a measly salary and tell me to be proud of it. Not at all.
If the thought of sitting in an office day in and day out makes you want to hang yourself with a nouse of yarn, if the idea of being trapped under paperwork for the rest of your life makes you want to jump off a cliff of supplies, and if you would rather live through some tight months than live "comfortably" on a salary doing the same thing every day because you define "comfortable" a little differently than most, WELCOME! :)
I am proud to be in dreamland because things are more interesting here. I am proud to be "artsy fartsy", though I rather dislike that term, because I believe artisans and artists are the only reason anything unique is created anymore. I am proud to see the world the way that I do, because I believe if everyone saw the world like artisans do, we'd be so caught up in the beauty of this place called Earth and the Universe surrounding us that we would have no time for distractions like war, we would simply want to create and capture, as feebly as we can manage, the wonder we see.
I am so happy to be a "creative type", whatever that means, because creative types lead the way. We pave new paths. We embrace those who are "different" (really we all are). The artisan and artist community is a home for everyone who feels out of place in the hustle and bustle, give it to me now, instant gratification, cold, corporate world we live in. And I'm so happy I'm part of that community.
I'm animal friendly. I have a cruelty free shop and try my best to live a cruelty free life, though sometimes convenience claims me a victim, but the guilt always brings me back. I do not, however, believe that everyone has to live the same lifestyle. That would go against the free-minded nature of being an artist to begin with. I just do my best to make the world a little more animal friendly because that's part of the beat I walk to every day, me and my different drummer.
I am obsessed with coffee. I like wine. I think tattoos are really interesting forms of art, though I don't have any yet. ;) I think tree frogs are seriously misunderstood creatures, as are sharks. Granted one would most likely happily eat the other but that's not the point. I'll leave it up to your imagination to decide which one would be claiming the other as lower on the food chain.
I have an amazing boyfriend. I don't like the term boyfriend because folks tend to take it less seriously than, say, fiance, but we may as well be married. That's something else I will no doubt rant about at some point. Marriage. And how this society seems to think that you aren't really a serious couple unless you've spent far too much on finery and diamonds surrounding the signing of a piece of paper. Is that really what makes a loving couple? *puts soap box away* Sorry. Another day.
Nonetheless, my boyfriend and I knew each other and were best friends for 8 and a half years before we got together and August 25,2011 will mark 3 years. I couldn't be happier. It is a treasure and a stroke of magnificent luck on my end to have landed such an amazing man, particularly one who not only can tolerate my oddities and quirks but who loves me because of them rather than in spite of them. Thanks, love!
I am sarcastic and comical, though I don't always try to be either, and I always have the best intentions in what I say. In this day and age you are bound and determined to offend somebody, no matter what you say, so say it anyway. If you're not outrightly being rude, I don't understand why it matters to anyone else what you have to say. I have my opinions, but I respect that other people have their own, and that's fine with me. I believe our opinions and our points of view SHOULD be different. How boring would it be if we all had the same ideas?
So, in a roundabout way, other than describing my height and eye color as though I were filling out a dating profile, that is pretty much me in a nutshell. Born and raised in Washington State. Anyone I know will tell you that I have a strong preference to anything made in or coming from Washington. It's true. But my heart has found a second love in San Francisco, so barring the possibility of ever living in Washington again, I am more than happy to live in San Fran.
I'm getting off the point. If there was one. But this is typical. Hopefully my tangents are at least entertaining.
Anyway, the reason that I started this blog is probably a question with an obvious answer and a not so obvious one, so I will tell you why I began this literary journey into the blogosphere.
I am of the opinion that no matter what your belief system, thought process, or outlook, there is at least one other person in the world who agrees with you. Therefore, one of the chief reasons I began this blog was to find others in the world who, like me, are discontent with the way our world functions and the cold, corporate, robot, dare I say brick-in-the-wall mentality we all seem to be shoved into.
In college, I was told more times than I can count "Get a degree in something employable." By implication, not art. Not music. So I gave up the dream of a degree in Fashion Merchandising and Design and got a degree in "employable" Political Science.
Ironically, I am now unemployed (according to the government), I can't become employed as anything design oriented though the jobs are, quite amusingly, plentiful, and there are, let's see...*Searches* oh right, ZERO jobs in my employable field.
Kids, this is the lesson, do what makes you passionate because in the end, anything else will bite you. If that IS political science, well, you probably aren't reading this blog, but go for it! But if it's art, get a degree in art! Everything is employable. Truly.
Moving on. The other reason that I started this blog was to write. Because I love to write. And most of the people who know me and love me will also, lovingly, admit that I talk a bit too much. A lot, actually. Yes, in school I was told to talk less. My third grade teacher actually told me if I couldn't tell her in three sentences or less, don't tell her. *shrug* Duely noted.
Well, thankfully, in the blogging world and writing world three sentences doesn't do you much good, so hopefully by venting and discussing and musing here, I will limit the need to rant about things to those who maybe aren't as passionate about my world view. ;)
Another reason I started this blog was, in the same way I want to find others who agree with me and who share my opinions, joys, and frustrations, I want to reach out to those folks and let them know that there is someone else in the world who feels the same way.
Also, I started this blog because I want to make my drop in the ocean of the Universe and put as much information out there on artisans, artists, and our lifestyle as possible so that the wolrd might become the slightest bit educated, as reluctantly as they may become so, or as happily.
Finally, the title pretty much says it all. I am becoming increasingly miffed with people advising me to get a "real" job. When you folks in the corporate offices are at work, how would you feel, and how would your boss feel, if your friends just walked in, sat down, and started talking to you. Or called all day long. Nobody would think to do such a thing. Well, I have an announcement to make.
Artisans work, too!!!!
And, I hate to say it but, we work double the hours a lot of the time. Yet the good folks in our life who we no doubt love, seem to have little to no respect at times for the fact that just because we work at home doesn't mean we don't work. And just because we don't have a boss, or a corporation, or a 401k, or a nice pretty paycheck printed on expensive paper with perferations already in place, doesn't mean that we don't work.
It's easy, as an artist or artisan, to get worked up over this mindset. To become angry. But then, I have to stop and think. They aren't artists. Our brains, I'll admit, work a lot differently. We see the world in different ways. And I started to wonder, what is the main reason that people see us as lazy dreamers that sit around and play with yarn or paint or beads all day long? Well...it's probably a lack of understanding of what we do on a daily basis.
Granted some of you are just asses, there's no getting around that. *smile*
But I'd give at least 90% of you the benefit of the doubt and say that if you knew what it was we dreamy folk do all day, you'd have a different opinion of us and our *ahem* work.
So this blog sets out to be an educational tool, as well. Maybe by explaining the personal side of our lives, what we do daily, the stresses and troubles, the joys and accomplishments, and the extremely generous nature most artisans have, those who once saw us in a not so beautiful light will come to understand that we are a lot more, do a lot more, and have a lot more to offer than they ever expected.
This is my hope.
I hope, at the least, you will become familiar with my blog. Follow me if you agree with anything I say. ;)
And if I offend you, I'm sorry. If you know me and you find you didn't really know me and who I really am is disappointing, I'm sorry you feel that way, but I will never apologize for who I am.
I've been hiding a lot of who I am for a long time. This experience of blogging honestly is going to be liberating for me, refreshing for those who I always felt comfortable sharing myself with honestly and candidly, and perhpase shocking if you knew me as the me I was trying to be for others' sake.
But at the end of the day, I can't be anyone else, I can only be me. And I finally understand that being me is more than ok.
My journey, my life, my stories, my thoughts, will probably be shared by a good majority of people out there, young and old, male and female, and I embrace you all and hope that you will embrace yourselves, as well, and who you truly are. If you've already been down that road, join in and share your stories with the rest of us.
My candle of hope, being true to myself, and my story is not just for me, but for anyone who finds they relate in any way.
Thank you for reading, and I do hope you will come back! <3
Sincerely,
Courtney
