In Winter We Should Be Hibernating

but I yearn for professional development apparently

Lull Brook Winter by Maxfield Parrish, 1945

Hello sweet mud-caked bones!

We are under a thin blanket of snow here in New Hampshire and I want nothing more than to animorph into the SleepyTime Bear and not emerge from my nest until spring but alas we live in a late-stage capitalist hellscape and we have to work to live.

image by Wizard of Barge

Yet, as we approach the year’s end, I am naturally drawn to setting goals for the new year. I’m looking at mood-boarding the life I want (so many mood boards all of the time), looking at how I want to progress with Rampant Hag Designs, and am sitting down to reckon what is realistic in any given timeline. It’s a clarity that I haven’t had in a grip and I’m savoring it!

I’ve leaned heavily into professional development this year and it’s been scratching my student brain. I love learning new skills and integrating them into my life and career. From financial literacy and foundation to writing a business plan that doesn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out with business bro lingo, I’ve been reveling in knowing more about how to run this funky little business of mine, and have gained the confidence to step into my own in this space; a big reason of why Stump Brew exists. I put pen to paper on what I wanted to do, how to do it, where to do it and here we are: gathered elbow to elbow under a log listening to me ramble. What a dream!

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Design Digest:

• Passion’s Pledge Test Knit is nearing its end and next steps are prepping for publishing!

• I am currently editing Raglan Road and am hoping to have both ready by the end of the year!

• I am prepping and dreaming about the designs I want to tackle in the new year, and I delve into specifics for paid subscribers below in a new format

• We’ve been experiencing our first bit of winter weather and I’m really wishing I took my Fledgling Blanket out of storage before this week.

Fledgling Blanket

Below I offer a blessing for rest and expand on goalsetting as a whole in both personal pursuits and designing. One of which includes the goal of sticking with this new monthly format for my newsletter. I never thought I was capable or interesting enough to maintain a monthly newsletter but the older I get I find that there are multiple truths: that people can and do find my writing and designs interesting and worth sharing, and that I don’t care if they don’t.

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A Few of My Favorite Things

• Blue hour in winter hits different

• I’ve been having a tough internal battle between playing Dragon Age: Veilguard and being responsible with my time and meeting deadlines, and adulting is winning :( but Veilguard is a blast of a game and I count the minutes until I can play again.

• Finch App!!!! It’s a self care app where you take care of a little bird as well as yourself and it’s the cutest ever.

• Trusting myself to go after what I want and embracing the imperfectness of starting