Thoughtfully Taylored: From A Whim to A Why

That's right... I started my little Etsy shop on a whim. Pretty much all in one weekend. In a matter of about 48 hours, I had a name, logo, Etsy store, print-on-demand account, and a few social media profiles complete with bios and various cover photos. 

Starting an Etsy shop wasn't a totally new idea, but it also wasn't something I was really considering doing at that time. I had hopes to create one someday, but I wanted to have a perfect business plan in place, a ton of research under my belt, a solid social media gameplan, and lots of content and products prepared before I did. 

I'm 100% a planner and a perfectionist, and I often find myself wasting countless hours developing and preparing something that never really comes to fruition. There are three main reasons for that:

1. I can never get things to where I'm completely confident it will succeed or yield the results I want, so I eventually give it up. Remember, I'm a perfectionist and I struggle with failure - something I'm trying to embrace more.
2. I re-work and overwork until I've completely exhausted the matter and lost all interest and enthusiasm for it. The amount of time it can take me to complete the simplest of things can be ridiculous because I nit-pick every aspect of it.
3. I psych myself out thinking I'll just end up embarrassed because there are already others doing the same thing, with so much more talent and expertise to offer. 

Oh, and ADHD. That's a frequent fourth reason. But we'll save that topic for another time...

So, what came over me that weekend? Why did I break from my usual meticulous planning and cautious consideration? Why did I decide to tackle such a big task on a whim?

My husband and I had been facing some unbelievably challenging mental illness and I desperately needed something positive to pour myself into. Something I knew would take a lot of time and effort. It wasn't how I'd planned to start an Etsy shop, but our lives certainly weren't going as planned either, and I think I just wanted to feel in control of something - to feel like not everything in my life had to be put on hold. 

Well, the shop served its purpose! I had a lot of fun designing cute t-shirt graphics, reaching milestones in my store, and sharing my new venture with others. Finally, something to talk about other than how hard life was at the moment. And finally, something that brought a spark of joy!

Thankfully, our lives have gotten much better over the course of the last year. And with that, a whole lot BUSIER! For a while I wasn't sure what the future of my little shop would look like, or if there would even be one because of the time investment it takes. 

But because it was so important to me then, I simply can't close it now. I've had to do some re-evaluating of what I want this to be moving forward (and some actual planning), which is why it was heavily neglected for a while. 

If I was going to keep at this and dedicate my time and mental energy to it, I had to decide what would be most valuable to myself and others. And... that's where my latest "why" was born. I would take what my Etsy shop had been for me during a very dark time and try to provide that same thing for others.

I now want Thoughtfully Taylored to be something that promotes the things that make YOU happy! And more than that, the various forms of self-care that help you cope with your mental illness. Whatever your passion or interests may be, I hope to provide something here that further ignites, celebrates, or helps you share it with your community.

And if you haven't found your "thing" yet - or you're like me and you're constantly discovering new things to add to your arsenal - I hope my blog can help spark your interest in a hobby that helps make you happy!