Letter from the Editor - October 2018
Image description: Black square painted on a wall with the words “Wake me up when I’m famous” in big white letters.
When you try to do something different you probably feel like you’re making all the wrong choices. Dancing with two left feet. What’s worst, is checking in on your Instagram feed or Facebook followers and seeing others lives, or projects, or performances going not only perfect well - but well received and basking in the praise and admiration of peers and strangers alike. There’s been a lot of discussion about how social media is more an experiment and fallacy than an actual representation of real life. Between filters, photoshopping, and carefully crafted captions how do you know what is a reflection and what is manipulation?
While aware of it, I always believed that you could find genuine people on the internet, and by ‘following’ them you were signing on to share in what they found inspiring, to support whatever they are trying to put out into the world, and get a peek into their lives. Coming in to help start a business completely changed my opinion. What I use to find thought-provoking or beautiful I saw as a better photo than I could take. When I used to be happy for friends or acquaintances finding economic viability in something they were talented in and passionate about, I felt defeated. Their success was further evidence of my failure.
So many people rail against social media now because so many of us are holding our selves to standards that don’t even exist. When I participated in Model UN throughout high school, I attended one conference in which our moderators/judges announced they would score us based on the contribution we made to the game. Not by how many times we spoke. I think we have lost the bit where what we contribute should matter more than how many times we do it. That’s harder to do on social media when platforms are changed and monetized to reward those who are doing well. Your favorite accounts on Instagram may disappear from your feed almost entirely if their photos or videos don’t get enough traction immediately upon posting. We all need to make a better effort to engage with the content we view and ask our selves: how does this make me feel?
When deciding to add a blog to the shop, we wanted it to be a source of reflection, introspection, and resources. Our shop motto is to help you celebrate the big things in your life as well as the in-betweens. Rest assured that we know all too well that not everything is a celebration. Which is why is so critical that the little things get celebrated.
We’ll keep plugging away, navigating the messiness of small business and social media. We hope you stick with us and spread the word. Every month we will be putting out a digital magazine of sorts. A collection of stories, guides, lists, etc. will be published throughout the month, they will all tie into a central theme for that month. For our debut this October our theme is authenticity.
It is essential to figure out where the line is between authenticity and putting your best foot forward. Ironically many who feel as if our timelines are too airbrushed, gain their legions of followers by covering up pimples hiding failures and struggles and only showcasing the wins. Today they can be more comfortable and more real because they already got the followers. We started this with the intention of creating handmade goods to add joy to your life, and to promote values that underly our work. We care about what we make and who we make it for (everyone.) We also care about the image we curate.
In an episode from Season 5 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Captain Holt commends Rosa Diaz for coming out as bisexual to the prescient and her parents, despite the fall out from the later. He stands in her doorway as her coworkers fill her apartment for a game night (do yourself a favor and watch the episode after reading,) and tells her: “Every time someone steps up and says who they are, the world becomes a better, more interesting place. So thank you.”
So we are stepping up and saying who we are. We hope you do too.
Cheers,