Thank You, ManMakers

Hi friends – this’ll be my last post for the week. I’m spending the rest of the day and all of Tuesday in my workshop, banging out some original how-tos and Christmas projects, (stay tuned), before going into full-on holiday mode on Wednesday. And before I go, I wanted to share the thing for which I’m most thankful for this year:    You, the ManMade readers. 

Yes, of course I feel very grateful to be healthy, surrounded by people I love, and to live in a place of relative peace and stability. But, this season, I feel incredibly thankful that I’m able to spend not only my free time but my work hours doing the things I love. In addition to running ManMade, I get to work with the great team at Curbly.com, and do some freelance-y gigs at sites like BobVila.com. I’m a full-time craft and design blogger, editor, and media-maker, and I figured out a way to do it before I was thirty. That’s amazing.

Yesterday, I spent too many hours in my basement workshop, struggling over a project design and executing it to a standard I was happy with. I ended the day very frustrated, having wasted too many materials, covered in dust, tears, and at least four bandaids. I said some things to myself that I wasn’t proud of, used language that I’d never repeat in the company of others, and may have even thrown something across the shop in disgust. 

But, after some deep breaths, a shower, and a re-schematizing of what was actually feasible with the tools I have (and more bandaids), I still consider it a great privilege. Even on less-than-stellar days, I feel incredibly grateful that I’m able to support a creative lifestyle, working all kinds of crazy hours pushing myself and doing the things I really, really care about.

So… thank you, ManMakers. Thank you, Bruno, and Capree and Brittni and JoAnn and Melanie and Matt and Alicia. Thank you, Julia. Thank you friends and family, and thank you sponsors and PR people, and thank you internet. I promise I’ll never take this for granted.

Happy Thanksgiving.