Hey blogosphere friends! Hope you all had a wonderful Diwali/Christmas/Yule/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa or whichever holiday you celebrate, if you celebrate any at all. I find this time of year very magical, but also know that it’s not for many people, and this year in particular, I’d like to extend a hand if anyone is going through a rough time. I mean, I’m always here to lend a hand or an ear, but it’s easy to actually see the magic and happiness around you and be sad, too. I’ve been there. I understand. So feel free to leave me a comment if you need anything! Sometimes, just someone to talk to is very helpful.
In fact, while I have some great news to share, I also have been feeling a little strange the past few days. At night, when I’m trying to fall asleep, images of my friends and science center co-workers flash in my head, and I feel a sudden loss and loneliness. I’m fairly well connected to everyone on Facebook or Instagram, but it’s not the same as seeing them every day, and, if we’re honest, on social media, you’re only interacting with what they share with the world. What any of us post is the only thing people who aren’t part of our day to day see. It’s not a bad thing, necessarily, but not everyone is super-prolific. Heck, I’m not! I got through phases, where I’m sharing things I find, or posting my thoughts, but I go dormant for many days at a time, too. And, because of Facebook’s algorithms, we’re also only likely to see a fraction of our friends’ posts, and, we’re more likely to see friends’ posts that we interact with more often.
All of this is to say, that even though I’m an introvert, I still love spending face to face time with my friends. And nearly all of my former colleagues were definitely like a family. It’s hard to say goodbye to that. It’s hard to think that I might not ever go back there, except as a guest. Some of my most impactful and meaningful friendships have come from working there, with the most amazing, magical, intelligent people. I can say in all seriousness that I would not be the person I am today without their influence. Things also feel un-finished. Like, a project that was started, but never really seen through to the end. I mean, let’s get real. There’s always one more project. In life, at work…
Which leads me to my good news. I got a new job, which I start on Monday! I’m quite excited, as it’s for a small company that one of my former colleague’s partner is founder of, and it’s quite a step up from what I was doing, though totally still in my wheelhouse. Especially since it involves a lot of moving parts and hat wearing, if you know what I mean. I’ll be an Office/Customer Service Manager. So, more staff-related responsibilities, but still very much in the vein of the work I did at the science center (which was daily and staffing operations based).
So what does this mean for the blog? Well, the last time I started this project of mine, when I became full time, I wound up dropping this fairly quickly. Then I picked it back up as both a way to drive my creative outlet, and potentially work from home, since I was unemployed. I didn’t expect it to take off right away, so this new job might be a bit of a good test, so to speak, to see if I can balance both this and work. I think I can.
I feel a renewed sense of purpose. Not just because I have a new job, but because I have a lot of autonomy in my life at the moment. A lot of unknowns, too, but both in the new job and my creative life, I have something driving things as well as some control over them.
I still have a lot of things I want to share, and new things I’m learning. I’m still figuring out exactly what I want out of blogging, what exactly I see the purpose as being, or if it’s actually contributing something to the world, or just more of the same. I don’t want to be like every other lifestyle/food/craft blog out there. At the same time, if you don’t have a solid focus, it’s harder to concentrate on what people like about what you have to offer. From a business perspective, at any rate. I mean, if I just wanted to blog to share the ins and outs of my life, I could probably just write a journal. And I’m not funny/interesting enough to form a readership based on my life alone. lol. But, I also think it’s important to keep it real and not be afraid to show the struggles of life, too. So we’ll see how this blogging thing all pans out. Any feedback you give me, is, of course, invaluable. I was hoping to get a few posts ahead so I’m not, sort of, scrambling to finish a post each week, so that’s definitely going to to be something to work on. I don’t want to be so many months ahead of things, but with a full-time job, I might have to figure out a good balance of the types of posts to share – crafts, food, life stuff, etc. And, maybe how often. It might be easier for me to focus on social media, and only post a new blog a few times a month. We’ll see!
One thing I wanted to share before I sign off for the week is the progress I’ve been making on cleaning up my craft room! I wish I had taken before pictures, but in all honesty, this room has been in a state of flux since I started using it. lol. Do you ever have a project like that? Something that, no matter how much you do, it still feels unfinished? I find this a lot with cleaning. As you clean, you basically have to make a bigger mess in order to remove or organize it. I find both my bedroom and my craft room to be the types of spaces that have this “issue”. Some parts stay the same, but how clean or organized they are tends to always be changing. There’s always a pile of papers and books and clothing items on the floor in my room, for example. Usually clothes that need mending or donating. Bills, papers to save, magazines, books, journals…yep. It’s all there. I’m looking at it right now. Why do you taunt me, pile-o-stuff? WHY?
But back to the craft room. I started using this room as a craft room not terribly long after our last third roommate moved out. It opened up some loft space for my other roommate to go to town with her fish tanks. However, the layout of the room, and how I wanted it arranged, has changed a few times. I’m also using my older computer desk that I’ve had since I worked at Microsoft, and could afford such things, as well as our old kitchen table (sans the chairs), because we don’t really have a dining space anymore. That table has been my craft table since we moved in here, around 9 or 10 years ago. It’s now lived in all three usable corners of the craft room. lol.
piles of boxes, a random keyboard I found, and more in front of my altar. craft supplies tucked into my closet. 
count not one, but two baskets full of wooden stamps! Actually, three. 
Not including all of these! 
I have reorganized the top three shelves, though. not perfect, but better. 
a pile of paper on top of my Cricut that needs to be sorted. 
My neglected rowing machine behind my tri-fold board for photography backgrounds. I’ll unbury you soon, I promise! 
dies, ornaments, paper remnants, a wii, my TV…and there’s more under the table! 
This is still on my desk. lol
I originally had my computer table, which is in an “L” shape, in two pieces, thinking I could use them better that way. And it worked, for a year or so. But then I wanted to buy a small rowing machine, and needed to think better how to arrange the room so I could make space for it. So then I put my desk back together, and had the table in a different corner, using it essentially as a glorified TV stand, and my desk as both a desk and a craft space. Then I moved it all again, and shortly after doing that, realized my desk would be in the way of the air conditioner if I ever needed to put it in the window (it gets very hot in our apartment in the summer, on the top floor). So I had to swap which corner everything is in. And that’s where we are now. And where we’re going to stay, because I’ve tried every other configuration. lol.
Additionally, I wanted to free up even more open floor space, so I could start using my old Wii again. I’m not 100% satisfied with my work space nearly parallel to the TV (I like to watch shows while I work sometimes), and I’d like to better arrange my craft supplies, but I am really satisfied with the natural sunlight I get, and actually enjoy using my desk as a craft space as well.
As you can see from the pictures, I’ve had a tiny little path to my desk. It used to be worse! I’ve actually taken out some recycling and garbage in the past week. I also, well before the holidays, spent some time organizing my colored cardstock. And before I took these pictures, I did some organizing of the three upper shelves, and swapped out my old DVD stand that was holding my stamp sets to one that holds more (though not quite all of them, as you can see in the picture where I have three baskets full of wooden stamps). *facepalm* I really need to pare down some things, or use them all more regularly. This, my friends, is how crafters die. Buried beneath their multitudes of craft supplies they just had to have, because OMGSOCUTE! or OMGSOPRETTY! or OMGIDON’THAVEANYTHINGLIKEITIMUSTHAVEITORDIE!
Little do we know…
Anyhow, I’ll do some posts in the future with more specifics on how I organized some things, as I’m quite proud of what I’ve accomplished, even though, as you can see, there’s still a lot of mess. The mess has got to get bigger before it can get smaller, after all.
Oh, and I suppose I should talk a bit about New Year’s or something. It’s strange – as much as I love the fireworks displays and hanging out with friends, I don’t really care about this holiday so much. Like, it doesn’t really have an impact in the grander scheme of my life, if that makes sense. It’s kind of like President’s Day or something. Doesn’t hold any particularly special meaning for most people. I also have a love-hate relationship with fireworks, because one of my dogs, Dobby, isn’t a fan, and there are a number of veterans in our neighborhood, and I know it must be god-awful for them.
I do like to take a moment to think a bit about what I’ve accomplished, and what I hope to accomplish, but I don’t really love using a week after Christmas in the middle of winter as a guide for when something should start or end. Life isn’t that exacting. However, I do think any time is a good time to set intentions.
Intentions are powerful. Better than resolutions. The word, resolution, has a sense of weight in a way that feels bad if you don’t live up to it. Intentions, however, are more about the driving force behind the action that creates a resolution.
For example, a resolution may be, “I want to lose weight.” Great! But why? And how? If you don’t have a why behind an action, are you really going to be motivated to do it? One of the big acronyms out there for goal setting is S.M.A.R.T. It’s used mostly for employee management in performance reviews, but I think it can be used (maybe with some modification) for any type of goal. I’m going to lay out those steps for you, using the “losing weight” resolution, since it’s a popular one, and one I can directly relate to.
S: Specific. If your goal is too big with too many steps and moving parts, it will seem overwhelming, and you’ll have harder time seeing progress. You might have a goal to lose 100 pounds in a year. But what’s the first step? You can always break down steps into smaller and smaller ones. What actions can you take towards your goal? Take 1000 more steps each day? Measure your food portions? Eat fruit with each meal? Pick a few that are easy and small (again, if it’s too big, your motivation is likely to wane). I also like to call this one Small.
M: Measurable. How are you going to measure success in your goal? Is it the scale? The fit of your favorite pants? What are the other ways you can see progress? How are you going to keep track of that progress? Giving yourself gold stars on your calendar for accomplishing a small step might help. Or maybe put a dollar in a jar for every pound you lose. Then you can use that money to treat yourself!
A: Attainable. Is it realistic? Do you have the tools/skills you need to be successful? If not, what can you amend about your goal in order to attain the tools or build the skills you’ll need in order to do the main goal you have. Your motivation and how you approach tasks plays a big role here. I also like to think of this one as Actionable. Are there actions you can take in order to be successful, and is your goal something you can actually act upon and gain progress? Sometimes, things are out of our control, so we need to be aware of what is actionable in our lives in order to improve or change our circumstances.
R: Relevant. Don’t make a goal that doesn’t align with your values or will put yourself at risk. If you want to lose weight by running, don’t expect to be running on your first day. You need to build up to certain types of movement. Again, start small. And make sure it’s relevant to your life and your main WHY for wanting to do the thing.
T: Timely. Set a time for your goal to start and end. But don’t put too much pressure on yourself! Again, starting small is going to make it much easier to reach your goal. Losing 5 pounds in a month is easier (and lets be real, healthier) than 5 pounds each week. Setting a time-based goal can be motivating, but when it comes to something like health, you have to be realistic with your timing, and be kind to yourself if you don’t hit your mark. Read up on healthy weight loss methods, and how long, realistically, things will take. You can’t pick up a paint brush and be Monet or Degas on the first day. Changes in our habits (which is what most resolutions are inspired by) take time, and motivation is a huge factor.
Other things I think are helpful regarding this subject are, 1) sharing your intention or goal with someone, 2) finding a group of folks to support you and hold you accountable (in a nice way), 3) asking someone to do the thing with you. Additionally, writing your goal down and reminding yourself of it in whatever way works for you will help center you when maybe you’ve gotten distracted by all the other things going on in life. You could set a reminder on your phone, or put something on your calendar each week, or write sticky notes and post them around your home. Making a vision board might help, too. Find empowering phrases and print them out in big letters and pin them up on your walls.
My main intention for this year is to find balance. Balance between work, sleep, blogging, crafting, physical activity, my spirituality, and making healthy choices. I have frequently struggled with one or all of these things in the past. That’s my overarching idea for the year. Now, I need to set some small goals to help me achieve that. I think I’m going to be putting a lot of reminders into my phone. lol.
Whatever your intention for the new year is,
I hope you all are doing well, and staying safe. Until next week!
Keep it crafty!
– Raven
The Crafty Raven 