A living hall of story and craft
There’s never really a “good time” for a trade war. But if you happen to run a one-person creative business that relies on cross-border shipping between Canada and the U.S., there’s definitely a bad one — and this was it. When new tariffs dropped, it didn’t just mean price hikes or political noise. It meant … Read more
Somewhere along the way, “independent artist” stopped meaning free.Now it often means burned out, underpaid, over-algorithmed, and expected to stay grateful for the scraps. We’ve been told that “community” will save us — as long as we perform enough, post enough, and smile enough. That success is a popularity contest, and silence is a flaw. … Read more
Every independent creator eventually hits the same uncomfortable wall: you run the numbers, set a price that actually covers your time, your materials, and your sanity—and then immediately feel guilty about it. Because we’ve all absorbed the same cultural poison: the idea that art should be cheap, that passion is its own payment, and that … Read more
Every artisan knows that moment: you list a new piece, set the price that barely covers your materials and time, and immediately feel the urge to apologize for it. We’ve been conditioned to believe that handmade work should come with a discount code. That creative labor should be a passion, not a livelihood. That art … Read more
Why everything feels like an emergency when nothing really is If you’ve ever worked in a café, retail store, nonprofit, or corporate office — or even just spent too much time online — you’ve probably noticed it: that creeping sense that every minor hiccup is a crisis. Someone’s five minutes late? Catastrophe. A shipment’s delayed? … Read more