Ugh, real talk time. Change is hard, isn’t it? Just as you settle in soft and cozy, something changes—maybe you chose to change, and maybe someone else made a change that effected you. Everyone says that change means better things are coming, which I do believe-we can’t grow with our some sort of change. But it doesn’t make it any less hard. February 2020, Revolutionaries Market, the shop I’ve been selling in for the last 4 years, announced to us makers they were closing. To say I was devastated might be an understatement.
This is a place where I was able to grow my creative wings and my small business wings. It was a place where I truly grew into a confident maker. It was a place I could test new ideas and within a week know if they were solid or not. With every month that passed, my sales grew and grew and so did my confidence. Other shops had come and gone, but Revolutionaries Market was my solid ground. I put all my eggs into one basket, and in February of this year I lost that basket. With the closing of RM I lost all of my income, and a lot of my confidence. I allowed myself to mourn the loss of that part of my business, it felt right to mourn it. Like I said I had grown so much there, and I will always be thankful for that journey.
I don’t have to remind you what happened in March of this year. Just as I was picking up the pieces of my confidence and reaching out other shops and setting up meetings. Covid-19 happened, is happening! And once again I lost my footing and my confidence, I mean who cares about earrings and kimonos when things seem to be falling apart all around you!
It’s been a long few weeks, and I’ve come to realize no time is really the ‘best time’ to do anything. There will always be hang ups, there will always be insecurities, there will always be a small (or big) voice in the back of your head saying ‘no one cares’ or ‘you have nothing to offer’, there very well may be a pandemic or quarantine. But you know, there will always be creativity and the need for creativity. There will always be a reason to get up and get dressed and put on those earrings. Even if it’s to work from home or water your plants. You are worth it your mental health is worth it! Your voice does matter, and I promise you there is at least one person who cares. So even though its been hard, I’m still here and I hope you are too. I hope we can keep moving forward even if it’s the tiniest step. We can do this.