And Happy New Year to all of you!
Thank you for being here and for reading this- I have always wanted this to happen but never really knew that I would or even could do it.
But, deep breath, here is goes, I am officially writing a BLOG!
If we haven't met- Hi, Hello, Welcome!
I am Ericka, this is 525 Fiber and Designs, a design company my husband and I started in late 2022 that we slowly grew mostly behind the scenes of the other things that we had going on in our lives. It was an exciting 2023, we did a lot of great things, met so many wonderful people, and did a LOT of design work together!
What we do here-
Crochet Sales
Logo Design for Small Business
Polymer Clay Sculpture Sales
Machine Embroidery
Social Media Management for Small Businesses
Shopify Set Up and Maintenance
So why the blog? That's a weird thing to add, right?
I love to write. I have always loved to write.
Stories, tales, fiction, non-fiction, journaling, all of it, I love to write and always have. One day you should ask my mom about the stories I wrote as a kid- I wish now that we had kept those but they have disappeared to the sands of time somewhere.
Writing is my preferred medium for sharing information, I believe I do a much better job of conveying the full extent of what I want to say through the written word versus the spoken. Writing also there's a lot of extra time to proof read the written word and make sure I don't sound completely stupid.
Plus, I LOVE to read.
In 2023 I read 41 books.
I lost count of how many articles, journals, magazine write ups, newspaper write ups, it was literally thousands, and let's not talk about all the blogs I read on Pinterest...
So that means I've had several in the past, but they kinda died after a while, I ran out of things to write about and then that meant I ran out of fun and joy and steam for the writing of those things.
And last fall, late October, early November-ish I had the idea to start blogging again but I was DE.TER.MINED to not fizzle out again... that meant I had to figure out why the first blogs died and not repeat that process.
It took me two months of soul-searching, journaling, therapy, and meditation to figure it out. And honestly, on this side of the figuring-it-out-stage, this is an answer I should have known all along... but anyways, I figured it out.
I niched down.
There it is, that's why, that's the reason I stopped writing in the past- I limited myself too much based on that others said I should be doing. Others being the people on the internet, the gurus, the coaches, the blah, blah, blah... those folks who we all somehow believe know more than we do about our own selves and how we operate and what we need to succeed in this world.
The almighty "THEY" of the world.
I listened to them, I failed.
I won't listen again.
I will listen to myself, my intuition, my own innate knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence,
And dude, that's so freeing!
So what the heck to I mean when I say I "niched down?"
To be in a niche is to be in a small place where you fit, a box so to speak, a specific area where you stay and work on your Zone of Genius to quote Gay Hendricks (love his stuff by the way, if you haven't you should absolutely read his books)
So I did that, I stuck to one area, one thing, one place, one limiting space.
And if you know anything about me you know that was a death sentence.
I was officially diagnosed with ADHD in early 2022, 35 flipping years old and finally the way I am made sense, we'll talk more about that in a later post, but my version of ADHD means that I need to do all the things, try new experiences all the time, to do more than one thing at one time, in fact I need to do 6 or 8 things at one time.
Yes it sounds like complete craziness and chaos, and sometimes it is, but it's also my fuel! It keeps me going! The idea that after I finish this thing that I am suffering through I get to go over there and do that new thing and then do another new thing, and then I can go back to the boring thing and it's not so boring after all!
It took my three and a half decades of living like this to know and understand that this is ADHD, it's dopamine seeking, it's part of how I am wired, and there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, there's a lot RIGHT with that, and it means I can do a million different things, do them well, and have so much fun doing them!
To be "allowed" to only do one thing, to only have one thing to work on- that was torture! And it was unfair of me to put myself in that box. I don't blame anyone for my niching, there isn't anyone to blame, I was doing the best I could with the information at hand. And now I know better, so I am doing better!
So now, I am throwing away the niche and embracing ME, my true self, my authenticity, and the way that I really am.
And how exciting is that?!
So buckle up friends- this blog is literally going to be all over the place- you will get a sneak peek into what it's like inside my head!
Some of you it will drive you batty, and others will absolutely love it, both are valid and I hope that the first group will keep reading, there might be something fun in here for you!
Topics I know we will cover- and this is not an exhaustive list!
- DIY Tutorials
- Therapy Thoughts
- YouTube Videos- mostly how to's
- Struggles and Overcoming
- ADHD
- Baking
- Home Projects
- Machine Embroidery Projects
- Crochet Projects
- Sewing Projects
(basically alllllll the projects)
- Gardening
- Wise Family Updates
- and if I can talk him into it, Solomon will hopefully feature as a guest here every so often! He's being stubborn about it, but we all know he will come around!
So why the heck to you care about this, why would you read it, and hopefully share it with others?
First- to be nosy about me and our life!
There's no shame in that- we live in the era of oversharing and I've done my fair share in the past, so why stop now! Come on over, be nosy, keep up with us, I would love it!
Second- the DIY and Project section
My plan is to give step by step instructions or tutorials with measurements and full how-tos so that you can re-create what we've done and even make it better!
And then, I so want you to show me what you did!!! Cause I love it when ideas are made better!
Third- to not feel alone
Life is so not sunshine and rainbows, it's hard and tough and stupid sometimes.
Maybe reading some of that truth from this side will help you remember you aren't alone in this, and how amazing would it be if my stories were able to encourage you to keep going for just one more day? I would be honored by that!
And I definitely want you to share that with me if/when it does happen!
To wrap this up- thank you!
Thank you for being here, for reading this, for reading what is to come, for encouraging me along the way, for always be there for me, and for all of the good things that are here for all of us!
Sign up for our email list, I will send an email when I write a new piece, and I can't wait to see what we get to do together in 2024!
** If you made it this far please leave a comment with Happy New Year for me!**
Happy New Year!