Clowns to the left, Jokers to the right

And here we are, stuck in the middle, again. At least I’m with you! However, in this letter, I want to suspend reality for just a moment and pretend that all of our 2022 plans aren’t going to be sidelined again. But before I get to my dreaming and scheming, let’s reflect, shall we?

2021: Remove The Claws, Sister.

Because that’s what it takes for me to properly drop something and move onto the next. It sounds so easy when I say it like that, but what I always forget to build into that process is allowing time to remove the claws, even more time to grieve the thing you are no longer dug into, and the inevitable depression that comes from feeling unmoored. 2021 was a whole year of that: saying goodbye to the Unruffled podcast, finally deciding to put wedding photography down, feeling entirely untethered to parts of my identity, (eventually) letting those parts dissipate, and accepting that spectacular failures are part of life’s trek.

Remarkably, I didn’t pick up alcohol this year, though there were occasions that I wanted to. My creative work saved my recovery, again, as it always has. I made a whole lot of beauty with my hands this year from pounds and pounds of materials that didn’t go into the landfill. I bonded with other like-minded folks from my community while helping to produce a reuse fashion show that felt like a reprieve of joy and celebration that we all desperately needed. I landed a part-time job that feels like a position that was written expressively for me. Yes, “let things go to make room for something new, blah blah blah”. What is left out of that tidy little meme is the extraordinary pain that envelops that process and my dears, it is a process.

When you are in the drudgery of that process, it feels like infinity. And not until you wake up one morning on a random Tuesday in November and see that you’re finally on a New Shore is the infinity suspended. The New Shore is my favorite place. They sell Moleskine Pro Planners on the New Shore that invite you to map out your big dreams for the year (of which I’ve done). They encourage you to pull your tarot Year Ahead Spread, in which you’re so eager to do so, you pull 13 months of cards instead of 12. And because the New Shore can fill one with so much gratitude for its mere existence, it can make you think that if there is a Word of the Year for you in 2022, it’s simply: Not Me. And not because you’re selfless, you just want to think of yourself a little less this year. The process of 2021 was just that exhaustive.

In all seriousness, I am asking myself questions around stewardship for this coming year: How can I be a good steward of self? Of community? Of the planet? While those are big questions, they also help me narrow my focus for 2022. This book gifted to me earlier this year by a friend, Making a Life, Working by Hand and Discovering the Life Your Are Meant to Live, has been the perfect companion during The Taint (as I lovingly like to refer to this week) as I lay down some answers to those questions.

In some practical matters, I’m moving the sale of new handmade goods into a monthly drop system. What that means is that I’ll be releasing new upcycled handmade items in my Marketplace once a month. The “drop” date is still to be determined but it will be the same every month. Yay to new systems! I have other personal projects planned for 2022, and more of that will be revealed next time. For now, you can still shop lots of lovelies if you’re still shopping!

So hey YOU, what do you have brewing for 2022 (full permission to suspend Covid-reality for a minute granted)? What did 2021 have to teach you? What is on your New Shore? I’d love to hear about it.