Hi you,
First off, because it makes everything else possible, product announcements: There are new Fidget Pens in the shop. Quite a few of them, though they’re going fast. Bigger news, the annual Snowflake design is available for preorder as well, both earrings and pendant. There’s a preorder discount, because if you get your order in sooner, I don’t have to skip quite as much sleep to get them out by the December shipping deadlines. The next Talisman update is in progress, but Covid (I caught it for the first time this week, and wow, no, do not recommend) is slowing me down a hair there. I’ll let you know when they are live though.
That out of the way (and thank you to everyone who has already ordered, you keep the lights on) – I’ve been telling myself I’d actually write in these newsletters. Something useful, or interesting, or at least entertaining. I am fairly confident hurricanes and covid aren’t interesting – heaven knows I’d rather not be dealing with either. Twitter has been all in the news, but I’ll spare you someone else’s take on that one, too. Okay, maybe just one little note, because it’s a little bit relevant – it’s funny in a somewhat sad way when someone underestimates you just because you don’t look like the kind of person they’d respect. We’re seeing that happen on Twitter now, with the trolls and people who are mad at what’s going on rolling out every last bit of chaos and mayhem to protect this space they’ve been a part of for so long.
People who are used to being “leaders” and “bosses” don’t usually have a good grasp of what it means to be part of a community. A community of misfits gets an even worse rap, but those are the most dangerous ones, really – they have the most to lose, and have to be the most careful of their reputation or they have the highest costs to pay. One slip, and they’re dismissed, blamed, written off, shamed. There’s no room for mistakes. Don’t mistake them though – they still have teeth to protect their own. They’re just very good at hiding them. You don’t survive without both supporting your members and protecting them. That said, regardless of the infighting that happens, interlopers are an even greater risk. People who think they can come in, like some savior, and make things Better, they don’t understand how communities work at all. We love the quirks that make our communities ours. If you can’t respect and understand that, well, you may not stand to lose 44 billion dollars and become an international laughing stock with the FTC breathing down your neck, but you likely won’t be welcome whereever you are trying to change.
The same goes for people. If you’re going in trying to change them or save them, you’re not loving them. It can be justified as wanting the best for someone, but that’s not our call to make – they’re just an extension of our ego, what we want to be surrounded with, and a reflection of how we are all too focused on… well, making sure we’re surrounded by mirrors that reflect back the version of ourselves we want most to see… instead of being the mirror that reflects back the best in others.
I hope you have a lovely weekend – and thank you for both reading, and your support. It’s been an awe-inspiring experience being told that people want more of me, not less, these last few months. I’m slowly coming to grips with it, slowly breathing into and through the fear of being seen as inadequate – and choosing to believe that the people who want more of me want more because they like what I am – not the reflection of them they want me to be. It’s been a raw, but worthwhile learning experience – and thank you for it.
Peace,
Abigail
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