My Agenda

Image Copyright Enoch Bolles

It's all aboard the Madge makes a book express! So far I've got 30 out of 72 designs completed! Woot! Woot! I hope to be halfway there by Wednesday and get the instructions written up so I can ship out the first half of the book and breathe a small sigh of relief.

I really haven't had time for anything else...even though there were some vague flip flop project promises. Do forgive. I'm getting there!

I only have two hands and they've been juggling a lot of balls lately! Insert circus music...here.

I read an e-mail this morning that kinda got under my skin a little. I can't say why. E-mail's funny stuff. It's a highly imperfect form of communication. Plus artists are all a little touchy and extra sensitive creatures.

The good news is in writing the reply that I shall never send, I found some renewed clarity on my agenda. You may wonder what it is and I'm here to express it to you.

This career found me. I had no intention of being a lifestyle expert or creativity guru. I was a professional performer who also happened to love crafting and design. I was going to get an MFA in acting and work at a regional repertory company making great theatre.

Life's funny sometimes. There was an unexpected detour sign, I took a side road and twelve years later, here I am. Doing not what I planned, but doing what I love and making a living doing it and being present for my lovely daughter at the same time. I quickly realized that this career allowed me the space to explore all of my many talents on a daily basis.

What an amazing adventure! What a gift! What fun! Huzzah!

I'm here to inspire you, gentle reader, to 'create without filters.' I'm not just here to show you how to make a cool pair of flip flops or a sparkly necklace. I'm not just here to sell you soap flakes or brand Madge. I want to show you how to craft a life of joy and wonder and creativity! I'm a pied piper of juicy, sparkly, crafty, messy goodness and I want to show you how to follow your bliss, do what you love, make glorious mistakes, live out loud and if you should so choose...to make some money in the process.

I'm also here to share some of what I've learned about the complexities of making money doing what you love. When I talk about the fine art of shameless self promotion, I'm seriously not ashamed. It's okay to simultaneously pursue your dreams making art and to be a savvy business person. It's incredibly freeing to be transparent.

I spent a lot of years living on ramen noodles and quite frankly, I prefer being able to afford a steak now and again. After all, money is just a form of energy. It's only worth something because we've all agreed to subscribe to that illusion. It's no longer backed by anything tangible...as we've all seen recently with the collapse of some mighty big financial illusions.

Ultimately the point of this life walk is to connect with others and to fine tune the practice of unconditional love. The rest is just the stuff we do to pass the time. We might as well do what we love and inspire others to do the same.

Carpe gaudium, my friends, seize joy.

xoxo

Madge