Over the past year I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on what my life is like now and what I’d like it to look like five years from now. As it is with most people, a lot has happened in the past four years. In 2020 I became single for the first time in 10 years, oh, and it was COVID, and meeting people became a challenge for everyone, but especially someone working at a tiny software firm and living alone. Then my 30th birthday came around, and I had a lot of feelings about being 30, single, and having very little success from online dating…

But the biggest shock for me personally was last summer when I got shingles on the right side of my face and was confronted with the possibility of losing my vision. That was pretty terrifying. Now, I’m fully recovered from shingles, but my body is still in a constant stress response (new eczema has appeared! and my OCD is on fire!), and I know the way I’ve been living isn’t sustainable for me.

I’ve been looking at a lot of farms and artists I admire and am really thinking about what I would be doing every day if money was no object. I’m hoping that there is a way to meet in the middle – be able to have a sustainable income for myself, my partner, and a future family someday, but also be able to spend more time on the things I enjoy without it feeling like I’m working 3 jobs.

I love photography, I love wool, I love flowers, and I love textiles. Oh and I also love sewing lingerie. As I’ve been thinking about these things, I’ve been thinking about how to create a life where they are all integrated.

I would love more than anything to run a small flower and sheep farm with a mini mill and be able to spend a lot of my time tending to the farm, photographing it, and making roving. It would be amazing to be able to put out prints or books of my flower photography.

I’ve decided that is what I want my life to look like in five years.

I’ve started taking some steps. I recently switched jobs and am now working fully remote. It has been amazing to be able to take the time I would have been commuting and be home to work on different crafts. It also enables me to move further outside of the city, which I hope to do in the next year.

I plan to continue using this blog as a place to document getting there. As I have more time and energy, I hope to make more and eventually sell batts. I’d also love to add to and promote my photography shop. Basically, working to lay down the foundation for where I hope to be in the near future.

And I hope that you all will stick around and see what happens. I know that it won’t come to fruition without people being interested in, sharing, and encouraging what I’m doing, so thank you all in advance, and let’s see what happens.