A BIG CHANGE

My life has been a little upside down these last couple of weeks. In the past, I've read those articles that say things like "10 Things to Remember When Your Twenties Don't Go As Planned" and stuff like that, and I've always thought to myself, well hey, I must be the exception and not the rule because so far I am rocking my twenties! I am an adult! Yay and things!

And then recently there was some overly dramatic craziness which ended in me apparently being the bad guy. It's a new feeling for me - this ostracizing atmosphere where I felt like a leper or maybe an axe murderer and everyone just kind of looked at me like all of Pride Rock stared at Kovu in The Lion King II. You know what I mean?

It's crazy how all the good you can do, and how hard you can work, and how much effort you can put in, and that it can all be undone by some workplace gossip. I haven't maintained a lot of friendships with girls over the years because I don't enjoy the drama that they can bring. Sure, I have some really good girl friends, but as a general rule I've learned that girls can be really mean and petty and sometimes for no really good reason at all. And that's kind of what I'm taking away from this situation I currently find myself in. Girls are just mean, and sometimes they are mean just because they can be.

So I've had a lot of time for introspection lately. A chance to take a step back and really evaluate my priorities. What do I want to do with my life? Where do I want to go? Who do I want to be? And I've found some answers, some ways to use my God-given talents as an artist and designer.

It was my grandmother who introduced me to Spoonflower. She is an amazing quilter and knitter and author and fellow creative soul. She saw that Spoonflower was holding a fabric design contest and she encouraged me to be creative and enter. So I looked into it. And I created a couple of designs (that are now for sale!) and I entered a design in the Botanical Illustration Fabric8 contest.

It feels really good to be creating. It helps me calm down and relax when it feels like the rug has been pulled out from underneath me. It reminds me that this is what I was meant to do. And actually, I am pretty good at it.

So I've been applying to jobs in the design field. And I've been working on creating some awesome fabric prints in my Spoonflower shop:

 

So far I have just two designs up for sale, but I am definitely working on more. And if there's any designs that you are looking for and can't find, let me know and maybe we can work together to create the kind of fabric you might need.

One of my good friends said to me that when he was fired from one of his past jobs, his whole world opened up for the best. So here's to things maybe falling apart so that better things can fall together. I really don't know where the future will take me, but I am excited to see what happens.