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The PO Box, the Full Night’s Sleep and How to Talk to Jobless People.

| Betsy

How awesome that right after I posted a post with un-PG language, I got a job and then got the flu.
The job:
Yes, a full-time job. Score!

The flu:
Four days of not being able to hold down water followed by ginger ale, Gatorade popsicles and saltines. Also, my assistant (see below), although helpful once I taught her how to use the kettle, completely failed when it came to me needing a bendy straw. She just looked at me, sighed, and went back to sleep.

As you can imagine, one event was happier than another. One marks the end of a year and a half job search which has taught me more than I ever could have imagined. Being jobless forces you to realize what your true identity is beyond the label of a job. It strips you of any title that marks you successful, fully functioning, normal. You realize how truly close we are to the people lined up on the street for the soup kitchen, sleeping rough and/or clanking a dirty Starbucks cup hoping for a few cents from strangers. My neighbor has been asking for spare change at the metro stop near our apartment building. I pass him and don’t know what to say, even as I catch his eye as he asks for “a penny or a nickel.” I used to see him often during the day just sitting on the stoop watching people go by, always with his big hat on and his cane nearby. He always calls me “ma’am.”

And here I am in more debt that I ever could have imagined, happy that I don’t have to worry about incoming bills for the first time in 18 months. The day I was hired I went out and bought a $15 bottle of wine. I haven’t done that in forever, and even as I was carrying it to the register I was wondering if I had made a prudent choice. I was able to enjoy some of it for one night, then got the flu, making the rest of the wine undrinkable and being poured down the drain. I tried to convince myself I could cook with it or drink it because it hurt to buy something so pricey (for me) and then have to pour most of it down the drain. Good thing that there are pharmacies now, such as the Canadian Pharmacy, that offer medicines at such an affordable price.

For the past two weeks I’ve been in a sort of limbo between being “jobless” and “jobbed” (for lack of a better way to put it), thinking of all the nights I would walk around the city and look into people’s houses with all their expensive furniture and dream what it must be like to not have to worry anymore about money, not wake up in the middle of the night terrified that your health insurance is going to be cut off or breathless when you’ve bounced a check and incur an extra $20 charge… Wondering where that $20 is going to come from. The past few weeks have showed me how much I’ve been holding my breath for 18 months, never able to fully exhale because employment was always on my mind. Exhaling has meant life coming into Technicolor in the truest, most childlike sense. And, it too, is a magical lesson to pay attention to. Now when I exhale, the middle bits of me feel hopeful and happy instead of scarred and scared and desperate.

One of the things I am able to afford now? A Post Office box, for the first time ever, craftivism.com is now connected to snail mail. I’ve received a stack of amazing books over the past 6 months and now that I can breathe again, have some reviews to write and people to contact and creative work to do. Instead of waking up breathless, I’ve been waking up feeling rested and overjoyed that I can worry about what I’m going to wear vs. how I’m going to scrape together rent money. I’m more grateful for that than I can honestly express.

My new mailing address:

Betsy Greer
P.O. Box 716
Arlington, VA 22216

A few things I’ve learned along the way… (And if you’re reading this and have told me some of these things, no worries, I still love you anyway.)

Things Never to Say to Someone Looking for a Job:

1. “You’ll find something.”
I know I will. Am possibly now blinded by the invisible rays of pity emanating from your mouth disguised as concern.
2. “Any job news?”
If there was, I’d have told you. Let the jobseeker tell YOU about their news, if they haven’t said anything, they probably DON’T have any news.
3. “Let’s split the check down the middle.”
My water and plain baked potato do not equal your sirloin with 4 glasses of merlot.
4. “But you’re so smart!”
Cheers. You’ve now just made me feel stupid because, obviously, I’m not utilizing my smartness.
5. “How long has it been that you’ve been job hunting?”
Are you kidding me with this question? Just paint a big “L” on my forehead now.
6. “I hear the job market’s heating up, how’s it going?”
Still cold. It’s still cold, only now I am annoyed that you asked me this.
7. “My brother just got a job, that means you’ll get something.”
Your brother also has 12 toes. Failing to see your point.
8. “Still single, too, I guess?”
Salt, meet wound. See also: hump on my back and 3rd ear.
9. “I can’t imagine having all that free time, so many things I could do not being chained to a desk!”
It’s pretty amazing how when you’re worrying about paying your bills or eating, your normal free time interests disappear.
10. “I know how you feel. I was out of a job for two weeks and I went out of my mind.”
Chances are high you never starting crying because you had to choose between which bill to pay, the electricity or the gas. Or pleaded with the life insurance company to not cancel your service. Or spent an hour trying to scrounge up change hidden in your sofa for lunch. I understand you’re trying to help, but talk to me when you find yourself suddenly awake at 4am after an unexpected tax bill came in the mail.

Things to Say to Someone Looking for a Job:
1. “Hey, I hear there’s a new coffee place near that park, trail, museum.”
Invite them out so they don’t hermitize, but remember their budget constraints.
2. “Can I see your resume?”
The more eyeballs that see their resume the better.
3. “My old co-worker has been looking for jobs, too, and she told me about this new site to look for jobs.”
Remind them they’re not alone in the boat, especially if you have new ideas for people to talk to, sites, etc. The boat is lonely.
4. “How about coming over and watching a movie?”
Again, stressing the idea of doing something with them. Trust me, they’re not saying no to the invites to restaurants and movies because they don’t want to go.
5. “I saw this local animal shelter advertising they need volunteers…”
Yes, we have lots of free time. Remind us to fill it with stuff we love, like volunteering with/for a cause we care about.
6. “Wanna meet for some coffee?”
I have been lucky enough to have a GREAT support system through all of this, even simple invitations for coffee can mean the world, if only because you get to put something on your calendar that day. In PEN, even.
7. “Last night on the news they said unemployment went down 0.03%, great, huh?”
Ok, I lied. Saying this will only make your jobless friend want to punch something. Most likely you.
8. “Fancy a trip to the beach in a few months?”
Followed by specific calendar date… Having things on the calendar to look forward to when all your days are free is pretty awesome.
9. “My friend Martha is looking for jobs, too, how about meeting up with her?”
Us jobless people like finding other members of our jobless tribe. We may love you, but we secretly hate that you have a job.
10. “How about signing up for a temp/contract agency?”
Just get them to do this. If for nothing else than getting the opportunity to put on a suit and go interview with someone.

Things to Stop Telling Yourself When You’re Jobless:
1. “Mom was right, I should have never majored in English.”
(Stop it. Atleast you know that Jane Austen wrote more than ‘Pride and Prejudice.’* And, for the record, she would think zombies are stupid.)
2. “Who needs to set an alarm, I have nowhere to be tomorrow.”
You might as well start eating cold pizza, growing out your chin hair and wearing sweatpants.
3. “I’m jobless, over 30 and single.”
Stop adding to the “reasons I’m boring as hell” file. And stop looking at Facebook and seeing how many of your friends live in mansions and are married with 8 million kids. Embrace your path. You are where you’re supposed to be.
4. “Maybe I should apply to that job at Jiffy Lube…”
There’s nothing wrong with working at Jiffy Lube, but if you have a degree in Greek Literature, you might want to consider other avenues. Like, ones not involving things that could blow up, have lots of scary important wires and/or make you deal with said things in under 30 minutes.
5. “Hmm…. Let’s see what my ex is up to…”
Unless you want to end up living in your sweatpants, avoid this at all costs. Especially when wine, late nights and bank account checking are involved.
5a. “What was it that I said wrong on our last date?”
Serious danger zone. Abort! Abort!
6. “I’m going to have the best Match profile ever!”
Mastering your online persona in ways unrelated to career/life development is kind of like trying to become the best ninja in Second Life. It’s just sad.
7. “Maybe I should go all Jack Kerouac. Y’know, ‘On the Road’ style.”
While sometimes a good thing, it’s generally a bad life decision when faced with unemployment. Unless you want to work on a fire watch tower in the middle of nowhere or learn cooking skills from hobos. In that case, go for it. And send me a postcard.
8. “I totally can take my own press shots.”
Another ill-fated idea with most likely the following results: a) you will look like you tried, which equals FAIL, b) you will try and convince yourself you look awesome when you don’t and c) NO ONE cares. However, if you think the results are ridiculous and amusing, GO FOR IT. See above, which I am calling “The Tracey Emin.”)
9. “Maybe Tori Amos has a new album.”
Stop before you get so sad you just want to eat cake. Tori Amos = instant SAD when you’re already on the edge.
10. “I am useless.”
The truest, most honest thought of all that stabs and reverberates. No, no, no, you are not.

And finally, what’s the best thing to do if you’re unemployed?

Wake up at a reasonable hour. Shower. Wear something that makes you happy. Do your hair. Put on lipstick. Breathe. Learn. Remember you are just where you need to be. Go outside, take a deep breath. Now go kick some ass.

Yours in finding your breath and soul and peace and creativity again,
betsy x

I’m going to be speaking in Oslo in November, followed by a few days in London in early December. Got a project, idea, notion you want to talk about that’s craftivism-related in either Oslo or London?! I’d love to meet up, there are always so many jaw-droppingly amazing things going on in Europe. So get in touch, why don’t you?

*We also know this is the best book ever written.

Craft + DIY = Punk?

| Betsy

Below is the most visited post in my archives, one from March 23, 2004 called Why Craft = Punk Rock. In 2004, I was living in London, getting my MA and had just started writing and researching about craft and community. It was before all the press and essays and was a true time of discovery. It was the beginning of the press frenzy and interviews at the start of UK’s finding craft as a subversive act.

Fast forward 5 years, and I think of all the places craft has brought me and all the wonderful people it has allowed me to meet. I never would have thought that the tenets behind this post would influence, well, everything that followed. Everything. Where did your craft spirit originate? What gives you fire in your belly? As I’m in the process of changing gears, looking for work* that helps women find their creative spirit in developing countries, I’m reminded of this post below. And I’m wondering where this new journey will take me, who I will meet, and held safe in the knowledge that my belief in the power of craft and creativity is real and deep and pure.

*

Living in London, I’m constantly amazed by the fact that the so-called ‘subversive craft scene’ is non-existent. In the U.S., it is everywhere you look and it’s not so much a ‘call to arms’ as it is an expression of something I/you/we can do with our own hands to make our own lives as well as the lives of others a little bit better in the chaos of life around us.

Currently I’m helping out with an event called V&A Museum here in London.

There is a press frenzy surrounding it and I’ve been dealing with people who are calling knitting a ‘trend,’ a ‘fad,’ a ‘craze’ and I can’t help but get a little but frustrated by it all yet continually finding it all naive. Both my reaction to the press interest as well as their wanting to just find a creative angle to fit their byline.

I don’t do my various crafts because it’s ‘trendy,’ although I do sometimes have crafty dreams that include everyone turning off their televisions and making stuff, whether it’s knitting a sweater or making macaroni necklaces or screenprinting fliers for a local demo. Anything as long as you are letting your passion be your guide rather than what’s seen a ‘popular for the moment.’

I’m fascinated by the emails I get from people in regards to their pure love of various crafts. Some of them are confused about what I’m trying to do here with this blog or in various work I do. I want to be a resource for people that want to help other people with their various crafty endeavours. Maybe I’m helping to fill that void, or maybe I’m just taking up more space on the interweb, I’m not sure most days.

No, everything I make doesn’t go to charity. but some of it does.

The other part of my crafty dream is that everyone becomes conscious of all of their actions. By asking things like: Do I need this? Do I want to support this company? How can I help? Where does my passion lie?

It is all quite emo and I’m sure my parents would conclude that I’m now a hippie.

But it’s about more than that.

My background is firmly entrenched in punk rock. I was always cutting and pasting my own little zines (and then hiding them under my bed because I felt they were crap) or daydreaming about playing drums in the next Bikini Kill.

But I never felt like i was good enough at anything really to make my mark. It was only when I started learning to knit, crochet, embroider, screenprint, make books, felt, etc etc that I regained my own sense of self and that fire that punk rock put in my belly when I was 16.

Craft to me is very punk rock and it’s hard to read article after article about how craft is just for ‘grannies.’ I love my grandmother who knits, she is kickass, but I’m also inspired daily by the way that punk rock influences my own brand of activism and craft. craftivism, if you will.

Who knows, maybe you feel the same way, maybe not. But I can never ignore how punk rock shaped my crafting. I owe my creativity to it, and it’s so not just a trend. And some days I get homesick for people who understand that.

xo

*Yep. Got any ideas of anyone who might be looking to hire someone with these interests? Get in touch!

The Creative Life Dot Net.

| Betsy

If there’s one thing I like, it’s projects. Even the word “project” sounds lovely just by itself, doesn’t it? Clicking on the photo above will send you to my newest project, a collaboration with Kim Werker, The Creative Life. What started out as personal emails of frustration, honesty and openness, we decided to expand our dialogue outward.

This trying to live your life as you want it can be messy. And hard. And frustrating, anxiety-enduing, annoying, and a complete pain. But it also can bring newness in the form of discoveries, friends, journeys, dreams and hopes. To join in this conversation you don’t have to work solely for yourself, you just have to believe that life is to be lived not just endured. So often we’re so freaked out that we’ll screw up that we do nothing, and find ourselves with our heads in the sand wondering how in the hell we’re going to make things right.

But we just need to hold on to the seemingly impossible idea that we will make them right, even if there are a few mistakes and bumps along the way. So go on over and check it out, okay?

The photo above was taken by the amazingly wonderful and talented Lee Meredith of Kim and I modeling our “smocks of creativity” in Knitt’n Kitten in Portland, Oregon. And yes, we bought them! What better thing to don on a dreary day when inspiration seems to have left you than a weird-fitting smock?

Activism Is Not A 4-Letter Word. (Reminder)

| Betsy

Today’s post is a re-post of something I wrote in November 2005. If you’ve read Handmade Nation, you’ll see that I have an essay in the book with the same name. This original post was what led to the essay a few years later. I’m reposting it here because sometimes it’s good to be reminded of just where your heart lies.

Two things for today, this afternoon I’ll be on The State of Things from about 12.40 until 1EST, and tonight I’ll be talking about craftivism and the book at Barnes & Noble in Cary at 7pm.

Dictionary.com defines activism as “The use of direct, often confrontational action, such as a demonstration or strike, in opposition to or support of a cause.” This is the definition I have often been presented with the minute I mention either craftivism or activism. At the mention of these terms, some people rear up and want nothing more to do with the discussion. When such a negative definition is so commonly applied, it isn’t hard to see why feathers are ruffled by even a whisper of activism.

But my own definition of activism lies closer to this, “Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change” from Wikipedia. It continues with “The word ‘activism’ is often used synonymously with protest or dissent, but activism can stem from any number of political orientations and take a wide range of forms, from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, simply shopping ethically, rallies and street marches, direct action, or even guerilla tactics. In the more confrontational cases, an activist may be called a freedom fighter by some, and a terrorist by others, depending on which side of the political fence is making the observation.”

Activism (or craftivism) is less about a call to arms and more about a call to act for change. Although there are negative ways one can bring about change, the majority of activists I know are working for the common good, attempting to bring about illumination instead of darkness. By negating a construct and stripping it of its positive intent, the more commonly used definition only breeds fear and unwillingness when in fact every time you make a conscious choice, you are being an activist. In choosing to buy one brand of yarn instead of another due to the way it was produced or by choosing to ride your bike instead of drive, you are being an activist.

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The past two weeks I have been living in rural England on a small-scale farm. I can’t think of a time when I have been more inspired or been taught more lessons or been shown so much hope in such a short span. I have been connecting and meeting individuals who continue to farm despite all the obstacles in their paths. After all the governmental and financial restraints have been agreed to, there seems to be little reason to continue an agrarian lifestyle.

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As we send all of our textile needs to further shores where people are paid less to work more, resources that the small-scale producers have relied on since the Industrial Revolution have vanished, leaving them trying to fill in the gaps. And as it becomes more and more difficult for small-scale farmers to survive, traditions and methods are lost in the name of technology and progress.

But there is a sense of activism in the air here as people strive to continue to produce wool and fleece as they once did when all the factories where up and running and could take in small quantities of fibre to be prepared. Out of love and determination, activism is alive in its most positive sense- as individuals try and band together to keep traditional methods afloat despite myriad setbacks. In watching their strength and learning from their dedication, I am reminded again and again of why I am not ashamed to call myself an activist.

The Courage to Enjoy.

| Betsy

I have these lyrics on my desktop right now:

I can sense it
Something important
Is about to happen
It’s coming up.

It takes courage to enjoy it
The hardcore and the gentle
Big time sensuality.

We just met
And I know I’m a bit too intimate
But something huge is coming up
And we’re both included.

It takes courage to enjoy it
The hardcore and the gentle
Big time sensuality.

I don’t know my future after this weekend
And I don’t want to.

It takes courage to enjoy it
The hardcore and the gentle
Big time sensuality
Sensuality

Lately I’ve been posting videos instead of photos. Here’s one more video as I’m way behind on my photo taking and editing…

The lyrics and video are from Bjork’s first solo album, Debut, the song “Big Time Sensuality.”

Over the past few days, I’ve used “It takes courage to enjoy it, the hardcore and the gentle” as a mantra. Humming it as I drove around town, hearing it in my head at work, keeping the words in mind in yoga.

I guess you could say I’ve been meditating on the word “courage.” In many ways I think that for a long time “courage” for me, was nothing but a simulacrum. It became distorted and disjointed from its original meaning. How for so long I thought I was brave and strong, when instead it was nothing but a well-crafted facade cobbled from bits of my past.

Somehow I’ve gone from Woody Allen to Diane Keaton, still charmingly neurotic yet less annoying. I listened to this song by Bjork over and over and felt that resonation where even though you wished you could apologize to everyone who has seen your not-too-hot sides and reintroduce yourself and hope for better endings, you’re okay, really okay, just where you are.

Writing this book, and then talking about it has meant putting something tangible into the world, instead of just into the ether or as part of a group effort. It meant staring down old playground fears and worries that kept me awake all the while thinking that I was being courageous. It meant okaying and forgiving so many negative and damaging years, and finally putting them to rest so I could focus on the recent good ones.

It meant realizing that without all the years so close to self-destruct or implosion, I wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate and adore what was on the other side of the coin. Maybe it was all down to that “fake it til you make it” mantra that puts a shine and a smile to everything.

As the simulacrum crumbled and I was left out in the open, I wondered why, honestly, we tend to see feeling fear as a failure or weakness. Isn’t a part of courage feeling fear and pushing through it? If passing through fear leads to courage then we are all both cowards and heroes, as you need to feel the fear of a coward in order to be brave and your actions noble. It, too, is the other side of a double-edged coin. No one ever says that courage is needed both in loss and in victory, that even though the outcomes are opposite, bravery was there the minute you stepped in the fray.

It takes courage to enjoy “the hardcore and the gentle,” both the rough and the smooth. Courage to feel, courage to fight, courage to love, courage to give without expecting reciprocity. So here, at the tail end of 2008 and the fresh start of 2009, I wish you courage.

May you have the courage to enjoy.

Also, the amazingly inspiring Nancy McNally (who makes the most wonderfully beautiful peace cranes) passed along an article about a new campaign to get artists in schools and in our communities. You can read more about it here and vote for the idea over at Change.org over here. Thanks for spreading the word, Nancy!