Part 5 of our story, and in conclusion… (you can read part 1 here, 2 here, 3 here, 4 here)

Reading that book, Julie and Julia, was a pivotal moment for me in my journey towards intentionality and mindfulness, in the way that books, or great teachers or fantastic podcasts or really anything, can do.  

It triggered me at the perfect time of my life and shifted me from living a little more haphazardly, tossed in the wind, to a little more intentionally and a lot more authentically.

It lead me to a life that, for the most part, lights me up!  A life where I choose my path and because I‘m a maker, I can bring into my life the clothes, food, and shelter that feel best to me.  (and truthfully, you don’t have to be a maker to do that…you need only know yourself and steer your own boat) 

Now, I am NOT saying that my life is all roses and sunsets.  It’s not.  I’m a human on a human journey and that, painfully, involves working through what is mine to work through.  I’m simply saying that this mindfulness gave me the tools, whether I can find them or not, to live in a grounded, authentic, and present way.  

Tools like, checking in on my gut reaction, or intuition, when making decisions and choosing objects and paths that light me up.  And like, pausing before buying a thing or agreeing to a thing to be sure they fit my values and give me joy.  And remembering that I am not a victim of my circumstances.  I get to choose whether I have joy or not.  Always.

If you’ve been around this community for any length of time, you know it’s still, and I imagine always will be, a practice.  I get off track, flounder a bit, find my tool belt, bask in joy.  Rinse and repeat.  

Why is it that we have these tools and then when we need them most we can’t even recall we ever had them?  We’re fumbling around in the dark, in varying degrees of misery, feeling around, and lo and behold, there they are!  

But for me, it usually takes a bit of light before I can see them.  In other words, I have to be moving out of the darkness before I remember to use the tools I’ve worked so hard to amass. 

Ah, well…such is life.  Perhaps as I continue on my journey they’ll come to hand more easily.  Or, perhaps this is just my way?!  

Either way, it all works out.

It all comes together to mean that I make clothes for the body I have and the body I, now, love.   With my own two hands and they fit, both my style and my body.  Sewing clothes for myself gave me that – more love.

It means that when life gets listless, I know that engaging in making a thing, in being present, is likely to shift me into feeling more alive.

It means that I seek out what I most want in my life.  Community.  A community of makers to be specific.  (although I also like a community of soulful thinkers too!   Oh and dancers.  And readers…and… you get the picture)  And that’s why I’m here in your inbox and why I’m here teaching courses and hosting retreats on sewing clothes you love and have this membership that is all about community and taking your creative journey into your own hands.  

And to be clear, when I talk about living more mindfully or intentionally…I mean finding what excites you and pursuing it, learning about who you are as a person and culling away what is not authentically you (like that polyester knit material or a that relationship that leaves you feeling depleted and sad), choosing your life instead of blowing about in someone else’s winds.   

Making your life on your own terms.  (as much as possible!) 

Thanks for being here with me.  I bet you have some pretty amazing stories to tell as well and I’d love to hear them.

In Kinship,

Tina