Home Again | Hello 👋🏻 Again
Newsletter #6
Hello Wish!
Where to even begin after so many months away from Substack? So much has changed in those months, as well.
Rebranding iSheWeilLa…
In one of my distantly recent newsletters, changes in Meta policy were creating some minor setbacks with my work. After a lot of thought, I decided that I want visitors to my sites to know that a real person crafted the site, the artwork, the imagery there. Ultimately, following all this with Meta, I’ve made the decision to completely rebrand iSheWeilLa under my own name.
Now, I have a new website, which I’m still working on and I’ll be “doing business” right here via email as well as on Ko-Fi & Redbubble. If y’all’ve any questions about my work, please feel free to reply to this email and ask.
Home Again…
After about 12 years, my family & I’ve moved from North Carolina back to Georgia. It’s been quite an adjustment. We’re living with family on a farmstead. We miss some aspects of city life, but are happy here and looking forward to seeing how we’ll all grow. Our dogs are particularly delighted with the space to run in the yard. They play chase and fetch.
Back in July, I drove to Georgia to pick up our new dog, Jessie. Since she and Pepper are both females and Pepper is a terrier, there’s been a ton of training and new experiences there. Jessie has brought some healing to our lives, and Pepper has accepted her as part of the family, as have our 3 cats. Fiction is particularly friendly with her.
During this move, I also wrote to and got the opportunity to meet some of my first family [I’m an adoptee]. I won’t say much about this because I want to be incredibly respectful of their privacy, but if they ever see this, I want them to know I’m so happy to meet | have met them and happy for the opportunities to spend a little extra time with them 🫶🏻
Not so New — Youtube
I’ve had a Youtube account | channel for years — at least since the early years of my marriage. However, in 2013 and 2015, my spouse & I were homeless. It changed us & how we viewed the world around us. We no longer fit a status quo, if we ever had. So when we sat down to film, it was painfully awkward. Videos became brief and rare. Neither of us ever got very comfortable with filming ourselves or each other. We gave up, in a way — but it hasn’t hurt us as much as trying to force a video lifestyle on ourselves. When we do share videos, they’re small. Moments of existence.
…but isn’t that all they “need” to be? Moments. Of existence?
I’ve gone back to Youtube & started sharing there again. It’ll be a blended mix of our lives. Arts, crafts… and those little moments of existence tucked in between. I’m so excited about it!
Tinkerings
Tinkerings is a new segment of Newsletter…ish where I’ll show you what I’ve been working on lately as well as share things I’ve been enjoying of late.
Recently got back into crocheting — I really love making smaller, less time-intensive things such as hats. I’m working on writing my own pattern.
As we began our move, I treated myself to a new book purchase; Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up. I’ve loosely followed the KonMari method of decluttering my home & life without reading any of the books. I love manga, so this one was perfect and I’m now re-reading it while going through a Spring decluttering phase.
I also acquired a copy of How to Draw and Write in Fountain Pen by Ayano Usamura, which inspired me to add lettering offerings on Ko-Fi.