It always starts with... "so I have this idea..."

So I had this idea. And like all big ideas, I kind of mull them over for a couple of days or I bounce them off other people. Originally, I decided to kind of keep it to myself. Then I realized that there will be work going into this. It will involve making a list and checking it twice.  But here's how this all came about. 

I've been doom-scrolling.  I am on my phone way too much lately. I will watch stupid Tik Toks or reels on Instagram, when I should be posting or connecting with friends. Instead, I am reading about the latest political fallout, another scandal, or a war that we are recently engaged in. The next thing you know, two hours have gone by.  Everything felt really heavy.  Everything is already so expensive. Gas is too high. Racism and mysogyny are rampant.  I needed a break. This used to feel like a break! After a long day, I was wasting time, just looking to laugh at some funny cat videos. It all became less fun, and way too much of a distraction. And... it's not like I don't have anything else to do (ummm, yeah way too busy).  

However, the hard part is that I really don't want to do chores, or the marking of papers, or the laundry (Sorry, honey I’ll do better I promise). We want to escape sometimes from the day-to-day. I just am sick of escaping  on a device that is capturing all of my attention.   I am feeling the stress in my body, and it’s screaming at me to “SLOW DOWN”.   Recently people have been talking about going 90s style or living a more analog life and even our young people our experimenting: crafts, passion projects, puzzles, and collecting records. I spent a lovely 2 days with my university girlfriends over the break – people I love – and talked, played games, ate and drank good things, watched a movie and laughed.   It made me realize that I've moved away from the entire point of this endeavor.  

While I do love following the news, being engaged and being inspired by my fellow makers, I jneed to get back to my craft. There is pressure as a small business to produce content. Recently, I started writing a few humorous posts in the “Jack Handy style” of videos (if you know, you know) and writing funny thank you letters. It was fun and I still plan to do that. I would get a great idea about something that just passed: the Oscars, Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl, etc, and by the time I would sit down to make the letter video, the moment had passed.  What if I made the time?  What if I replaced my doomscrolling time, with intentional time? What if instead of just writing to make content, I just write for the sake of writing? 

So the “Big Idea” is just an old idea - to go back where it all began. When I started creating artwork and making Christmas cards, I printed 200 cards from my original watercolours.   I wrote out 100 letters - personal notes to people I cared about. I sold the other 100 cards and gave the money to charity. I realized that it all happened in December of 2016: ten years after my mom had passed, the precise moment I was looking back at baby pictures on the eve of my daughter’s first double-digit birthday, and seeing Mom's last Christmas and my daughter's first Christmas all in one photo. This is my 9^th year of business and December 2026 will be my 10^th anniversary.  What if I wrote 100 letters? All over again? 

Two days ago, I sent my first letter:  I made a video about it that I will post eventually.   It’s  a pretty special letter.  Some people might be sick of hearing from me, but they're still on my list. Some of the letter recipients are completely silly and far-fetched, but they are people that it would feel really cool to get mail from.  I’ve bought a roll of 100 stamps.  I’m researching and collecting addresses.  The list is still evolving – some people are there again, and some completely random and new.  My goal is to send out 100 pieces of mail by this December.   

So, if you have read this far, please come along on my adventure. I will document it for fun, but not sure what shape it will take yet.   Take some time away from your devices (I am very much aware that you are reading this on yours and I am typing on mine), and do something completely non-digital and completely slow.  Spring is coming, so go and dig in the dirt and literally “touch grass”. Of course, write your thank you notes.  Feel free to write to me, request a letter, or I would love an old-fashioned phone call, or a walk. Maybe thank you letters and gratitude will save the world?  I will be on here less (have to for business reasons), but I need to actually live this beautiful life we’ve been given.  I guess “isn’t that the whole point”?