When the formalities of a divorce are over, property is divided and papers are signed, it’s time to move on. At least, that’s what everyone expects you to do. For me, the first few weeks and months felt liberating and calm. The emotional weight …
Who hasn’t awakened smack dab in the middle of the night only to have runaway thoughts start flooding your mind as an endless loop of worries, frets, self-criticism, financial doom, or any number of problems you need to solve? The trick of the trap …
Written and posted a many years ago, I first posted this on Upholstery Club. At that time, I thought it might be interesting as to why I would want to upholster. Since then, my focus has evolved and shifted to how working with our hands …
Wowee! Self worth is one doozy of a subject to tackle. It can send most of us heading for the hills in the spooky land of self-discovery. Most women don’t realize they’re negotiating their self worth every single day. Getting face to face with what …
August 15, 2024 Let’s glance back over the past ten years for a brief moment. I could fill hundreds of journals with issues, circumstances, ‘problems’ and life shifts I’ve gone through. Blech! Readers don’t want to hear about my life, its challenges and how I …
June 30, 2024 Every time I’m lucky enough to sell a piece from my carefully curated furniture collection I experience two things. First, I have deep pangs of resistance – an unfortunate trait I’ve had my entire life. We’re not talking hoarding, but I do …
Written and posted a many years ago, I first posted this on Upholstery Club. At that time, I thought it might be interesting as to why I would want to upholster. Since then, my focus has evolved and shifted to how working with our hands can satisfy a very human need to create. I know, many of you will reject that statement, and that’s ok. I’ve been around long enough and I’ve facilitated enough workshops that allow women to explore, experiment, try, fail, try again and create from their hearts to know that we all include creativity in our human-ness.
To go way back, I had a deep-seated childhood need to make cozy spaces. Very early on, it was clear that I loved furniture and art, but even more so, I often tried to make a calm and comfy little nest somewhere in my boisterous childhood home which consisted of three older brothers and one older sister. I came at the end of the line. For a very visual and sensory aware child, the normal chaos of a family of five kids was almost too much for me.
I was always on a quest for my own ‘space’ to find a place where I could reflect and observe. One time, I became brave enough to stake out the little storage room under our basement stairs. It had floor to ceiling storage shelves, the opening to a laundry shoot and a little area about 5′ x 5′, the basement floor space directly below the stair landing. While hauling down all kinds of little rugs and accessories to ‘decorate’ my hideaway, I was fumbling in the dark trying to find the string to turn on the low light bulb and literally stuck my finger in the light socket. Yikes! I never did that again.
That pretty much lays the foundation on which I built my business. And now, it makes sense that my interest has evolved from only teaching technical skills deeper into the therapeutic process of creating. I lived it myself, and I saw it over and over again with the amazing women I worked with. I’m not suggesting that making things is the sole solution to anxiety, trauma, depression, or stress; however, in my life, it’s been a reliable portal into a physical and figurative space where I can allow my heart and hands to work into that free and joyful state of flow. In flow, there’s peace.
But back to childhood–the chaos was fun, but I was a child who enjoyed a quiet place where I could think, contemplate and visualize ideas. You never really know that when you’re a child, but looking back, I see clearly that’s who I was. You may wonder how upholstery became my passion and profession. That’s a story for another day, but the short story would be that I remember the joy and excitement I had when I got to go to the fabric store with my mom and look through pattern books, as well as drink in the visual and textural delight of rich and colorful bolts of fabric. Lucky for me, my mom was extremely creative, talented and style savvy. When I was asking for conservatively cut wool skirts, she was looking at fashion trendy flowing pants and tops. I credit her with providing me free thinking and creativity genes. Here’s to you Jeanne Miller!