i feel like my home is here.
i feel like my home is there.
close and far i feel at home.
i presently am here and you presently are there.
either/or i call it home.
here is familiar, and so is there.
near and away i feel at home.
A crisp overnight sail.
Listening to The Replacements, drinking beer-then-whiskey, "I don't think Morrissey cares about French girls", knitting in the cockpit, stuffing over-layered limbs into sleeping bags and underneath piled high blankets and watching the night progress and move behind and around a lone lit lantern with a kind of enrapture and attentiveness that can only come from being in the warm belly of a boat on a winters night out on the open water.
i am so sorry that this hurts. that that hurts.
but the fact of the matter is there will always be hurt.
there will always be something easy enough to find, in or around us, that will cause us to curl up in attempts to protect ourselves from the quick-sharp-pain. from the slow-burning-fire. there will always be something trying to snatch us away from present joys and contentment.
but, truly, you have the power to not let this present hurt, this current i-don’t-think-i-can-handle-this, crush you. to not snuff you out.
you’re strong.
you were born with a light in you that no darkness can extinguish, if you recognize it, embrace it.
take a hold of it and own it.
know that hurting people hurt people.
know that you are more than this present situation.
this situation does not define you.
this hurt won’t last forever.
there will always be hurt, but there won’t always be this hurt.
wake up tomorrow knowing that there’s better things out there.
that you may be broken now but that you will be whole again soon.
the night may be filled with weeping, but joy comes with the morning.
these are small resolves, resolutions if you will, for my personal health and well being.
small, seemingly insignificant all on their own, but quite important and essential when all grouped together.
sharing as always to help further accountability, inspiration and encouragement.
if you have a few bits of resolve of your own, write them down. keep them. share them.
i resolve to always keep books on the bedside table. so as to have more important and tangible rectangles to reach for other than my phone come late night awakenings or early morning arisings
i resolve to keep predominantly fresh/whole/good food in my pantry and fridge so as to nourish and keep my body healthy
i resolve to keep my phone tucked away, not in my hand, as often as possible
i resolve to walk more without an end destination
i resolve to leave emails unopened until i can respond to them
i resolve to practice more patience, especially with people
i resolve to call more and text less
i resolve to say the nice things i think about people out loud more often
i resolve to not say the not nice things i think about people more often
i resolve to think more than twice before i buy something non essential
i resolve to regularly question what's essential
i resolve to write more
i resolve to unapologetically listen to this song as many times as i want to in a day since it's been that way since basically october and i'm just going to embrace it at this point
i resolve to say hello more than i say goodbye
//
feeling oh-so-good about you 2016.
and we're only a week in.
To have a mantra, theme, idea, or even a single word to carry with you throughout the year is not a new or foreign concept to me. However, with the exception of perhaps last year when I determined that 2015 would be my year of travel, I've never really practiced this sort of intentionality in my own life.
Usually I have extensive lists of goals and resolutions that are a little all over the place in their content and theme. And though I do have a few specific goals for this year that I'd like to achieve, the idea of having a single word to carry with me while pursuing those goals, to direct my energy through the lens of this word or theme to obtain them, made a lot of sense to me.
So I spent the majority of today thinking on what I would want my word to be.
A few came to mind...
Perspective
Mindfulness
Slow
Intentionality
Contentment
Peace
Enough
All great words, but most were to broad and none were quite right.
And then I thought of it.
Simplify
It even spoke to the issue at hand of trying to choose a word... The irony.
Simplifying my life is something that I've been working on more, especially since the end of the summer. Pairing down my possessions, creating more efficient systems and processes for my business, eliminating stress by eliminating excess.
Not overcomplicating.
Not overthinking.
Because of this truth as well as this one.
Just having and doing the needed and necessary, whatever that looks like for me.
Because rest assured that action, simplifying, looks different for everyone. Becoming comfortable with my interpretation of it is part of this exercise as well.
It's not about the trend of minimalism that's been popping up, though there are aspects of that movement I'm all for getting behind, it's about doing less so that I can do more.
Which makes sense if you think about it.
I don't want to spread myself thin. I want to focus on a few specific things at a time, or even just one specific thing at a time and do it really well, instead of doing a lot of things only half as well.
Quality over quantity.
A theme I've talked about before.
So here's to 2016 being a year of simplicity.
Do you have a word for this year?
I'd love to hear what it is if so. Feel free to comment below or shoot me an email.
Let's have some good conversations about it.
So I started the morning of this last day of 2015 with reading my post from this time last year.
It was interesting to see both, how much I've grown since then but also how much I am the same.
2015, as a whole, was amazing. I hadn't fully realized what a truly incredible year it really was until I sat down to evaluate and think about it. Which is such an odd thing to admit really, but I don't know this year went by so fast that it's taken me until now to realize how much has really happened just in one short year.
Like, really guys, I went to five new countries this year. Five.
That alone would make for a red letter year in my book.
But there's so much more that happened that made this year one of the best yet. Some of it too personal to share, but other pieces I am more than happy to revel in with you.
Let's review...
I rebranded.
Holy wow was this huge for me. I already have even more new ideas and changes that are going to be introduced in the upcoming year, but having this foundation for my brand and my business, was so very huge for me. I felt much clearer and more focused in regards to my brand and how I represent myself and what my goals are and what my mission is with what I do.
I can't wait to continue adding to it next year.
I introduced a new series on the blog, Thoughts, from the morning and late night (the latter is actually when most of these entries seem to come to me for some reason).
This came about because I rediscovered how much I really and truly love writing. I'm no shakespeare by any means, but I do so love expressing myself and my thoughts in this way. So I hope you won't mind that being more of a thing in 2016 because I think this is just the beginning of a rediscovered love.
I was an ETSY FEATURED SELLER.
Hello, can we talk about how insane this was? A dream come true to be sure. I still have a hard time believing this one. Wowee wow wow.
Learned how to spin yarn.
Cannot wait to pursue the elemental aspects of various fiber arts this winter. Believe me, it's only becoming more of an obsession from here and I have some big plans for furthering this education.
(No, I don't have a sheep in my backyard yet but....)
Freaking ran a whole 10k without stopping. Quite a feat for a person who's never run more than two miles max at a time.
I was a model a time or two (I use the term model very loosely as Meagan is literally the only person who can take photos of me where I'm not portrayed as the true goof that I am 24/7)
Started another new series I'm still working on sharing photos in from this year, The Urbexing Diaries. See more entries here.
Introduced Travel Dates.
Here's to some great new ones come 2016 yea?
I was featured in Whurk Magazine as their centerfold pinup girl. ;)
Started officially documenting Leney’s Airstream Dream.
One day friends… One day…
Added heaps of new strips to The Travel Blanket, which is so ginormous now and getting quite heavy... kind of thinking I need to either start a second one, or just add teeny tiny bits of yarn in the future or something because I'm not sure how functional a blanket the size of my living room is really going to be at this rate...
Went to Iceland. ICELAND.
This truly could be the only note worthy thing I did this year and I would have written off 2015 as the best year of my life I'm pretty sure.
Planning on finally sharing real non iPhone photos and thoughts from that trip very very soon.
I also went to Ireland, Spain, France and Switzerland.
There are no words really to sum up this sentence. But there will be non iPhone photos forthcoming of those photos as well you can bet on that.
It was the year of travel actually, for I also revisited Maine, Florida, New York, North Carolina, and various places all over Virginia as well as went to Michigan for the first time.
(Detroit in February.... That's all I'm gonna say...)
Helped the sailor whose daughter I am bring home a new boat that I even helped name.
Established that mornings are, indeed, my favorite time of day.
Worked for some pretty cool people and got to stretch my creativity work wise as well as personally in so many various ways with my photography. Something that lapsed a bit more so at the end of the year, but something I'm looking forward to jump starting again at the start of a new one.
I also stretched my creativity with my fiber work in making this commissioned piece that I still really love.
I introduced One-Of-A-Kind Knitwear.
A project and concept I was so excited to finally make a reality. I'm excited to see where it goes this year.
I also released another new knitwear line, The Classics Collection.
A collection I am so very proud of and one that felt so good to share with you all.
It's still up in the shop for anyone who feels like they need some knitwear for the upcoming winter months. ;)
Hosted a pop up event with my knits at Madewell!
Such a cool opportunity. So many lovely girls who work over at that store. Grateful and humbled for the privilege and honor of being noticed and singled out to do that with them!
Turned another year older (shocker) and summed up some overall things I've learned throughout the year.
Started working with a pretty cool dude at a pretty cool shop on some pretty cool things.
Maybe you’ll hear more about that in the new year…
Identified that slow living is something I want to make a point to live out as well as shopping small whenever possible, and overall living a more sustainable lifestyle. Definitely plan on touching on those subject matters more in the near future.
And.....
Countless other things that didn't even make it to the blog/instagram.
But again, some things are just too personal and I'm going to keep just-for-me.
2015 was it man. It really was.
Last year I wrote:
Goodbye 2014.
There are some parts of you I'm really going to miss, and some parts I very much will not.
But I am grateful for all of your parts.
I find that sentiment still rings true for 2015 (though I have to admit I have a hard time remembering much of the bad from this year because I feel as though it was overwhelmingly and almost-all-the-way-through good).
So, in closing, 2015...
I am grateful for all of your parts.
//
Photo cred: Meagan Abell
flyaway home
for the winter
to the south
flyaway home
with your all dark inside mouth
flyaway home
over the land above the sea
flyaway home
near-far-gone from me
I’ve been experimenting with weaving off and on this past year and I’ve made and sold a few pieces here and there but I’m hoping to get more seriously into it in the near future.
(Then again, this is pretty much how I feel about any crafty/creative endeavor I get into... So we'll see...)
Up until recently I’d been making makeshift looms from cardboard boxes, wooden pallets, frames, etc. but a lovely friend gave me a proper loom recently and this is the first piece I made on it.
I rather like it.
Here's to more experimenting.
// Photos by Meagan Abell //
I've been a little absent from the blog as of late. A trend that always seems to come around this time of year when I'm busy with orders from the shop and finishing up photo editing for various clients before the end of the year. But it feels good to be back at it after a little time away and I'm excited to finish out 2015 strong, put some final touches on different projects and work related things as well as tie up loose ends before the start of a new year.
Over the past few days I got to rest, relax and recharge in a way I haven't been able to in quite some time.
It was just what I needed to recover from the crazy whirlwind that the holidays can so often be.
I read two books, ate several delicious home cooked meals, didn't check email for three days (so hard for me not to do...), rarely looked at my phone (all but ignored it really, except when taking photos. Of course.) and was able to spend some quality time with those I love most in this world.
All of which make for a much happier and focused person who's ready to tackle this Monday head on that's for sure.
We all need time to rest, relax, rejuvenate and recharge sometimes.
All of the R's, you know?
I hope you have some time to do that before the start of the new year friend.
You deserve it.
The blues of Lake Geneva, Switzerland are what inspired this cowl.
It's a place that's unreal in its beauty, one of the most stunning I've been to in my travels.
This piece is made from a yarn that I've had in my stash for so long that I no longer remember where it's from. But it's blue tones brought me back to those incredible views as soon as I saw it.
If you'd like to invest in this piece and be the owner of it's unique story you can do so by heading to the shop listing for it below
You can also see other OOAK Knits and there stories here.
Why one-of-a-kind?
These pieces are inspired by...
the places i’ve been,
the people i’ve met,
the words i’ve read,
the images i’ve created.
All of which are unique, to themselves, their own, one-of-a-kind.
Much like you are.
I believe that your clothing, what you wear, says a lot about you.
It adds to your story, your make-up, who you are as an individual.
And so, shouldn’t those pieces in and of themselves hold a story all their own?
I think so.
That’s why my knitwear is one-of-a-kind.
Each design is a piece of art.
Each piece tells a story.
Of a person. A place. An experience. An idea.
When you own one of these pieces you are the only one to own it.
Aside from me, the creator, you hold it’s story.
You are now the caretaker of it’s story.
And it, in turn, becomes a part of yours.
The Stories The Things We Own Tell.
I think they're terribly important, though often overlooked.
I find that the things we invest in are the things we cherish and value most. Which in turn speaks to what kind of individual we are. What we put stock in. Who we want to be.
You can also read more about why here.
// Photos by Meagan Abell //
