Freedom of 'Creative' Expression

Today, our country celebrates a very memorable day; a day which marked freedom and brought democracy here in our country for 114 years. Our Independence Day. This is not a nationalistic, socially relevant kind of entry. With this though, I want to share my favorite form of freedom -- creative expression.

I've been blabbing my thoughts here in my blog since June 2005 (Oh, this month is my anniversary pala). My blog had gone through different changes in the 7 years (7 years already?!) it has been running -- from the url to blog layout and hopefully, down to the content. Hee. I was 16 years old and heartbroken and a freshman in college so looking back, my entries were full of emotional ups and downs. (Although you can't find it in my archives though because I reverted my entries circa 2005-2008 to draft to keep it from the public eye. It was until recently that someone commented on my former entry - see here - and made me realize that I was once careless with my entries so to prevent unnecessary judgment and unnecessary explanation, might as well keep it.) My life was in transition and everything was new to me. My blog was my release every night I come home from school. It became my diary where I share my "un-screened," hapless thoughts and rants. It was, and until now, my creative profile or portfolio where I share my random photographs and ideas. My blog is my autobiography where you can see the inner picture of who I really am. It is also my slumbook where you can pick up bits and pieces of my favorite things. In general terms, it was, and still is, my form of expression.

I am no mainstream blogger. I don't get floods of comment. Compared to others, the number of my page views are nothing. But I don't care. I write for myself. With the hope though that if someone stumbles upon my page, he/she will learn something or I've touched his/her life or helped him/her in the littlest way possible. Or you know, he/she will plainly just enjoy browsing.

Recently though, I reunited with a familiar hobby of mine -- accessory making. Ever since I was a kid, I was making accessories already. I have a penchant for beads, anything colorful and handmade and accessories fall into these three. I probably got it from my mother who first introduced me to accessory making. She used to make necklaces and bracelets for me then she taught me how to do it myself. I stopped making when I was in high school since I became busier at school and my interests changed. Until one day last year, I thought of buying materials and make accessories again out of sheer boredom. I found I Spy DIY, Honestly WTF, A Pair and A Spare and P.S I Made This while I was randomly browsing the internet and these websites ignited the creative bug in me.

On September 7, 2011, a day before my birthday, I opened my online shop of handmade (and some handpicked) accessories. Like my blog, my business is not mainstream as well. Most of my clients are my friends and my mom's friends. I only make one to three pieces per style. Although, I can have my items made per request but up to 5 requests only. I do made-to-order as well. My online store is another form of my 'creative' expression. Making accessories is when I feel relaxed and stress-free. It's my own cheap therapy. It's my creative release. It's my own little endorphin.

Accessory business is not as lucrative or as appealing compared to food business or clothing business because people here in our country rarely accessorize. (I guess, only stylish or artsy people appreciate and wear them and a business like this needs someone who appreciates art also to run it.) So my sense of fulfillment is not from the additional money it gives me but when I see my client wearing it and I can see from her eyes that she's happy with it. I put up this online shop mainly because I love to create. It's not about the money, it's about the craft. I feel happy when someone appreciates my work.

These two, my blog and my online shop, are my babies. They help me breath. They help me release whatever I am feeling (Although with the coming of the term 'libel' in the scene, now we have to be careful with what we say even if it's just in a blog. And people are always judgmental so everything is prone to misinterpretation.). They make me feel at ease and happy. In this universe where we are all bounded by rules and all, with these two, I feel free (With words though, again, we still have to be careful. Just because we are free to do so, does not give us the power to overuse it and use it against and to hurt others.). This form of freedom is what I cherish the most because this is where I get to be me and this is where you can be able to know me. This is where I get to express my ideas, my thoughts and my feelings and in a way that some, if not most, people can't. With typewritten words and making craft, I don't need to shout or to explain too much. Everything is prone to misinterpretation or misunderstanding though, but it does not give you the right to act and judge me as if you know me very well. And I know as well, that with words and craft, this is where I am good at. So thank you, God, for creativity, expression and freedom to do it.

Before I end my entry, I want to share videos of some episodes from ShopTalk in ANC that inspired me, not just in business, but for the love of art and craft as well and how passionate they are with what they are doing.

Art that is socially relevant and eco-friendly.