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Hope Coppinger's avatar

I don't know where I am in this scheme, but I know that when my mom died six years ago was the same time it became abundantly clear that my then 12 year-old son wasn't going to have a conventional life path. It was really traumatic and hard and scary, but one thing I did was I started sewing, because I saw my mom sitting in a nursing home watching SVU over and over and I thought, I'm gonna need something to do if I ever get to that point.

I was...48? And I became a weepy, sweaty, sometimes shouty (occasionally screamy) advocate for my son, and for people getting as nerdy as they want to be. I am not the same woman I was before that spring. I've been in and out of a couple of non-profit jobs since then and have finally accepted that I too, don't need a regularly-shaped life path. So now I'm feeding two blogs, making stuff with some little fiber gangs, and doing the marketing work I used to do, but in smaller settings for people doing things I believe in, at a pace I can stand. I didn't always go willingly and I tried a few times to bail, but this is right for me. I feel more connected to the fun, weird kid I used to be, and there's a nice steady dose of beauty and inspiration in my life now. It's also still scary as all hell, but every day that old shoreline recedes a little more. I wish us all luck. It's fun out here.

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Laura's avatar

Just wanted to say I really liked this sampling plate newsletter format. It was really interesting to gather takes from several different life experiences and expertises :)

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