To journeys worth taking

It seems unlikely that all this transition occurred in less than 2 days, yet that is the truth.

I have had the urge for a while to make a shift. Mostly, in majority reasons due to my digital art business and how the shop was structured. Etsy used to be a place where creators large and small could reach an endless audience and thrive somewhat equally. Yet with all things, (even social media), the formula kept changing.

The larger-scaled business would be noticed, and the smaller one would be lost in the dust (unless they shelled out half of their income on marketing and ads). When I first joined and wanted my products to be seen, I paid for the ads. They were helpful, yet only about 10% of sales were a result. I was arriving dangerously close to paying someone else to run my business. It was disheartening. It isn’t how it should be (but of course the world doesn’t often work as it should).

So with the disappointment firmly rooted and only growing (due to increased fees and a larger gap between major sellers and the “little guy”), I became more restless and wanted to find a solution or else I would likely give up all together.

Enter this new site.

I knew if I was going to make one change, I should gather up all of my efforts and bring them together. It made the most rational sense and would likely produce the most satisfaction, mentally and emotionally.

With helpful input from a dear friend who uses Squarespace, I decided to look into what it could offer and possibly just as important, how the aesthetic would appear. For a Creative, visuals are vital in creating a place conducive to growth.

I first researched and viewed this platform on Wednesday. By the end of the day, I had used all work breaks to dive into the deep end and by the end, had created and completed 75% of what you now see (though I ended up tweaking and honing about 35% more that evening and into the next day).

I prepared myself to show my husband that night and discuss my thoughts and intentions and goals. For when I got home and looked more into the cost (I was in a free trial period and given previews of what could be) - it was more pricey than my other platforms combined (but only barely so, truth be told).

The yearly rate was a large sum at once and I grew more anxious.

You see, I am not a person who has known how to advocate for herself. I don’t default into believing in myself or what I’m capable of. So I have to put forth great effort to get behind a dream or goal I may have. I have to really believe in it or want it badly, yet even then, I talk myself out of it almost every time.

So when the people in my life who are so kind, supportive, encouraging - who believe in what I do - speak light over me, I come alive. My back straightens, my eyes widen and my head becomes more clear (“maybe I can do this”). It happens time and again because I have such a wonderful tribe of a small but mighty few who’ve stuck by me for decades.

Then a few I’ve picked up recently, by way of my amazing spouse.

After showing him, Wednesday evening, what I’d put together and showing the cost and what it entailed, I braced myself because even I thought it was probably too much. Yet I wasn’t prepared for the absence of any hesitation at all. He simply said yes after hearing all the numbers. He already knew I had been dissatisfied with Etsy and other aspects. He just agreed so effortlessly it took me back a little.

To describe how much it meant to me, to have that unwavering support and belief that it was worth it - trying to convey it here would be insufficient.

He believes in what I am doing, he sees the joy it brings me and how my body carries differently when I get to create and how my brightness increases.

He only ever wants me to have the joy and journey.

I am so deeply grateful for the continued ways God has showed me that I am loved, valued, believed in, and cared for. That this man whom He gave me is exactly who I needed to thrive and learn what love can do.

That is all another post for another day, but the moment of having him jump on board and so purely encourage me will forever be linked to this shift and new all-together branding journey.

I began on a Wednesday afternoon break and finished on a Thursday.

I think the final product is more beautiful than I imagined and am so overjoyed that it’s unveiled. It’s a quiet revealing, there isn’t a big hoopla and I’m not sure how many people will notice it for a while. Yet that doesn’t really matter right now. I notice. I see the dream taking shape and I feel renewed.

That’s worth the journey. Growing into the confidence of how God made me, what I can do through His leading and my persistence. I want to be more bold in His plans and path. Why shouldn’t I be? He has never failed me and constantly reminds me of His love and provision.

No matter what I do, I am cared for, safe, and seen.

What freedom in that beauty.