Progress with my initial card selling was slow. I didn’t know how best to reach people and I had some reservations about asking people to pay money for my work. Some seven hundred handcrafted cards later, with four stockists, media coverage and orders still to fill, it has not been the adventure I imagined – it has been much more challenging, much busier and much more rewarding. I owe my success to the hard work of friends and family, to other peoples desire to be a part of this amazing project, to a very flexible and supportive boss at work, to word of mouth, to a cake shop, café and visitor centre, theatre, hardware shop and clothing boutique who have given my product somewhere to be appreciated, to the generous donations that flooded in as I told the story and dream that I was a part of, to a stranger on the tram who enquired after my furious writing of my fundraising plan and immediately told me he had faith!, to chocolate sellers at my old high school, to friends and family who pitched our vision to their managers, to messages from people who appreciated what we were doing and many late nights and long hours of determined sewing!
Card making has been for me, amongst other things, a way to pursue my creative interests, a confidence booster, the potential for a new business idea, a way to contribute to something that I really believe in (in a way I had never thought was accessible to me), access to a group of mentors and likeminded amazing people, the loss of living space due to a lot of sewing mess, and a new personal style of dressing where by I look like my clothes are malting, as I am constantly covered in sewing threads! I feel somewhat tired, but also incredibly fulfilled!
This journey has reminded me that there are possibilities available to me, and to all of us, that we are not even aware of… that these are limitless and just waiting to be discovered. To realize that this potential is available to us all is incredibly empowering. I think from the night that I emailed photographer John Laurie, whose work I very much admire and received his almost immediate response agreeing to photograph my work for nothing, this realization of potential began. Receiving the images he had created using my product was amazing. I couldn’t quite get my head around it! As a consequence, I have learnt not to be afraid to ask.
I have learnt so much in all of this so far – about myself and about people and about possibilities. I have learnt that if you are willing to believe and fully throw yourself into something, people and ways materialize! I can’t explain it, but I know it. I have learnt that often the people who are most eager to help and are most generous, are those with the least to spare, financially and materially.
Late last year, I felt the need to make changes in my life. I couldn’t remember the reasons for having begun the pursuits I was involved in. They had lost their purpose for me and I had lost touch with the motivations for these things in my life. I was struggling a lot with the pace at which I was living life, trying to find fulfilment though the ‘purchase’ of a lifestyle and character determined by clothing, possessions and lifestyle choices. My life had gotten so fast, I no longer had the chance to reflect on what I wanted or what it was that made me happy. It scared me – I’m only twenty-two! How had I let this happen? And how could I begin to change it?
I had long felt that we as individuals have more potential than we exercise or realise. Reading a magazine I stumbled upon a profile of Jade and Girls on Top. Something from the article resonated strongly with me. It appeared that this was an incredible, personal, integrity filled journey that individuals were invited to join and to bring a part of themselves to. I wanted the opportunity to be a part of something outside my confined world, something that would benefit others and something that would bring me fulfilment.
The morning that I wrote my application for Girls on Top, I went to a funeral. I didn’t know the woman well; in fact I was there in support of a friend.
The stories of this woman’s life inspired me and stories told recounted the ways in which she had touched the people she had shared her life with.
It appeared to me, as these people gathered in great numbers to celebrate the life that this woman had lived, that she herself had celebrated it, the entire time she lived it. And it struck me that I felt strongly that this is what life is for.
Everyone spoke of her gift for relating to people. I was so inspired by this woman, who I have only ever met a handful of times. I couldn’t help thinking about the contrast in times. From the beginning, her whole life had been about the people and her wealth of experiences, yet these days wealth is only mentioned in the frequent focus on financial security, financial investment and material wealth. This woman reminded me that the best investments I can make are in my relationships, in my memories and in my experiences. Girls on Top appeared to me, to be part of this celebration – of life and our potential in it.
And there’s still a Peruvian mountain waiting to be explored…and so much more to discover!
I’ll be in touch
Beck
Progress with my initial card selling was slow. I didn’t know how best to reach people and I had some reservations about asking people to pay money for my work. Some seven hundred handcrafted cards later, with four stockists, media coverage and orders still to fill, it has not been the adventure I imagined – it has been much more challenging, much busier and much more rewarding. I owe my success to the hard work of friends and family, to other peoples desire to be a part of this amazing project, to a very flexible and supportive boss at work, to word of mouth, to a cake shop, café and visitor centre, theatre, hardware shop and clothing boutique who have given my product somewhere to be appreciated, to the generous donations that flooded in as I told the story and dream that I was a part of, to a stranger on the tram who enquired after my furious writing of my fundraising plan and immediately told me he had faith!, to chocolate sellers at my old high school, to friends and family who pitched our vision to their managers, to messages from people who appreciated what we were doing and many late nights and long hours of determined sewing!
Card making has been for me, amongst other things, a way to pursue my creative interests, a confidence booster, the potential for a new business idea, a way to contribute to something that I really believe in (in a way I had never thought was accessible to me), access to a group of mentors and likeminded amazing people, the loss of living space due to a lot of sewing mess, and a new personal style of dressing where by I look like my clothes are malting, as I am constantly covered in sewing threads! I feel somewhat tired, but also incredibly fulfilled!
This journey has reminded me that there are possibilities available to me, and to all of us, that we are not even aware of… that these are limitless and just waiting to be discovered. To realize that this potential is available to us all is incredibly empowering. I think from the night that I emailed photographer John Laurie, whose work I very much admire and received his almost immediate response agreeing to photograph my work for nothing, this realization of potential began. Receiving the images he had created using my product was amazing. I couldn’t quite get my head around it! As a consequence, I have learnt not to be afraid to ask.
I have learnt so much in all of this so far – about myself and about people and about possibilities. I have learnt that if you are willing to believe and fully throw yourself into something, people and ways materialize! I can’t explain it, but I know it. I have learnt that often the people who are most eager to help and are most generous, are those with the least to spare, financially and materially.
Late last year, I felt the need to make changes in my life. I couldn’t remember the reasons for having begun the pursuits I was involved in. They had lost their purpose for me and I had lost touch with the motivations for these things in my life. I was struggling a lot with the pace at which I was living life, trying to find fulfilment though the ‘purchase’ of a lifestyle and character determined by clothing, possessions and lifestyle choices. My life had gotten so fast, I no longer had the chance to reflect on what I wanted or what it was that made me happy. It scared me – I’m only twenty-two! How had I let this happen? And how could I begin to change it?
I had long felt that we as individuals have more potential than we exercise or realise. Reading a magazine I stumbled upon a profile of Jade and Girls on Top. Something from the article resonated strongly with me. It appeared that this was an incredible, personal, integrity filled journey that individuals were invited to join and to bring a part of themselves to. I wanted the opportunity to be a part of something outside my confined world, something that would benefit others and something that would bring me fulfilment.
The morning that I wrote my application for Girls on Top, I went to a funeral. I didn’t know the woman well; in fact I was there in support of a friend.
The stories of this woman’s life inspired me and stories told recounted the ways in which she had touched the people she had shared her life with.
It appeared to me, as these people gathered in great numbers to celebrate the life that this woman had lived, that she herself had celebrated it, the entire time she lived it. And it struck me that I felt strongly that this is what life is for.
Everyone spoke of her gift for relating to people. I was so inspired by this woman, who I have only ever met a handful of times. I couldn’t help thinking about the contrast in times. From the beginning, her whole life had been about the people and her wealth of experiences, yet these days wealth is only mentioned in the frequent focus on financial security, financial investment and material wealth. This woman reminded me that the best investments I can make are in my relationships, in my memories and in my experiences. Girls on Top appeared to me, to be part of this celebration – of life and our potential in it.
And there’s still a Peruvian mountain waiting to be explored…and so much more to discover!
I’ll be in touch
Beck