The majority of my 2023 was spent in a phase of rest. At the beginning of 2023 I chose the word “ease” as the focus of my year, while in the midst of a very non-easeful season. January of 2023 was quite possibly one of my least easeful months of my life, spent hustling to put together the final details of the DIY Awards Bash event. By the end of January, with the dust settling from a successful event, I was 100% burnt out. I hibernated for about a month, then tried to kickstart myself back into a phase of productivity, but ultimately ended up taking a sabbatical in the summer which I planned to be two months long, but ended up… well, if I’m honest, I’m still in it.

Those months of rest I spent recalibrating my priorities and deconstructing the hustle life I’d created for myself in exchange for one that allowed me to show up in a way that created room for so much creativity to blossom. Within that season of rest I found myself returning to creativity modes that I’d abandoned in the singleminded pursuit of the “DIY influencer” track. I found myself writing fiction and poetry again, illustration, and painting. I realized, to some dismay, that I needed to dismantle (or perhaps rather pivot?) my DIYer mantle for something more holistic and embodied. To create a space that allows me to fully explore all the avenues of my own creativity, including DIY and home renovation. I’ve been quietly and slowly working on a rebrand of sorts, while also figuring out what the end result of that branding overhaul will look like. And likely it will be an evolving overhaul, but for now the focus of that overhaul, and the focus of 2024 for me, is creating space for creativity to blossom, and finding joy through creativity in every day life.

In the past I’ve niched myself into specific creative spaces, but if you know me at all, you know pretty much my entire life is one creative project. If it can be done, I’m gonna do it in a creative way. Part of why I’ve loved the DIY niche is because working on a home and infusing creativity into our living spaces is one of the main ways I think we can invite more creativity and joy into our lives. By making our homes a creative playground, we can let our brains explore even more creativity, or even unlock creative ways of being we’ve maybe buried over the years of adulthood responsibilities. When we say, “it’s just paint!” and paint a wall in our homes, we give ourselves freedom to be creative and less inhibited in other ways too.

So, what should you expect here? Probably less DIY-home-reno-specific-content, but only because there will be more on other creative subjects. I’m working on launching a new podcast focused on infusing life with more joy through a practice of creativity— interviewing creative humans in a broad variety of artistic and creative industries about their own practices and disciplines that have added joy and fulfillment to their lives. I also want to focus on creating more resources that support you in creating a more creative and joyful life— maybe art journals, books, downloadable worksheets, etc. And in the midst of it all, also creating an environment for myself to practice what I preach and invest in my own creative practice. Submitting my artwork to galleries and my writing to journals, applying for artist grants, and being more active in my local art and writing community.

So that’s the download! Nearly 9 months in the making, it’s taken about that long to distill my thoughts on all of this and come to a place that feels in alignment for me in terms of my online “platform” if you will. I know some folks were just here for the DIY stuff, and if that’s you and none of this sounds interesting, no hard feelings if you choose to peace out. A large majority of my audience discovered me during my DIY years. But in 15 years of blogging and social media presence I’ve pivoted a few times, so people coming and going as my content serves them or not feels very much an expected part of the territory. You do you, boo!

But if you’ve been feeling that pull towards creativity as a practice seeking joy, you might want to stick around!