I wanted to give you a deeper understanding of how I came to do the work of making these talismans and, more importantly, how I came to know that you are infinitely braver and stronger than you know.
I’m a maker, there’s just no way around that.
I have always loved the feeling of making something tangible with my hands. This started in my grandfather’s garage growing up “helping” him with his projects, sorting through the scraps of wood to start little projects of my own. During this time, if something needed doing on my project, he let me do it. He didn’t take over when it got hard, he said, with an assurance, that I could do it myself. More often than not, I could do it. (I have tried hard to do this with my kids. I stepped back long enough so that they can have space to figure things out for themselves, it’s not always the way I would do it, but who cares. They are practicing bringing something real into the world. Aren’t we all…)
[caption id="attachment_6486" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Jenni and her grandfather, Earle[/caption
Carpentry projects in Earl’s garage turned to sewing projects in my teenage bedroom. That turned into a costume design major. By the time I graduated, I had the entrepreneurial bug and in the twenty years since then I have started no less than 7 businesses.
I had no idea how to structure a business, so I guessed and failed, over and over. I have never been good at being an employee, I am destined to be a maker.
This quote ‘makers gonna make’, is as true for me as ‘humans gotta eat’. Part of me disconnects with the world if I'm not making, working with my hands and bringing something meaningful and useful to the world. At my lowest, it has been reconnecting to this essential need that has helped me climb out of the darkness. By following my own story back into the memory and meaning my grandfather’s bandanas, back to that feeling of bravery, of “I can do this”, I arrived at this work.
As soon as it popped in my head, I knew I had to make these talismans of bravery and adventure for you. It immediately felt like all my previous trials and failures have brought me to this place to do this work. You can see pictures of Earl and more from my story on our about us page, and in the following story posts. [Read the next installment of my story Don't Trade Authenticity for Approval]
be brave,
every chance you get!
jenni