Lissabird Makes Good: TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!! Part 1

Friday, January 29, 2010

TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!! Part 1

Yep. That's my goal to donate from my jewelry sales this year. Last year we raised just over $6,000, so I'm trying to almost double my sales. I'm not quite loosing sleep over it yet, but I am shaking in my boots. Although, life is much more interesting if you set your goals high, right?

Why do I do it?! Because I can, I guess. I have been learning to make jewelry for a really long time, and now people are willing to give me money for the things I make (I am still blown away by this!). In the process I have been able to help spread awareness about crappy diseases like Cystic Fibrosis and ALS and raise money for research. I am extra excited about donating money directly to real people for needed medication or equipment.

I love that I get to help other people, but I do it for myself too. Being able to work when I can, and not when I have to is an enormous help-- not only in caring for my daughter, but it also helps my health. I love that I can work with my body and not against it. I don't have to make chronic pain fit into a 8 hour work day anymore, because believe me... it doesn't work well most of the time. I feel so lucky that this crazy idea keeps getting bigger, and I have big plans this year to help reach my goal.

January report... I expected this month to be slow after the holiday rush. I was grateful for the time off, and used it to work on new designs and my new Etsy shop. We have just about reached the $500 mark for January (I need to raise $800 per month to stay on track). That's not bad at all for the second slowest month in the life of an artist (sales are also slow in October as people get ready for the holidays).
So we'll see what February holds. Hopefully lots and lots of Red Heart sales!
(UPDATE!! January = $620... even better!)

2 comments:

Somer Love said...: so far so good ;)

Oh and if you dream is to BIG well thats just the right size!; January 30, 2010 at 11:53 PM
Lissa said...: Hah! Lots of sales this weekend means we're only $180 off the goal this month!!

Go team!; January 31, 2010 at 9:42 PM

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Who am I?

I have lived with Chronic Pain for 20 years-- that's two thirds of my life. I have RSD/CRPS in my left foot as a result of an auto/pedestrian accident when I was 10 years old. RSD has been called one of the most painful diseases out there, and the stress of it on my growing body caused a whole host of new problems. After a few years, pain took over every inch of me.

A few years ago, I decided to look at my health (or lack there of) from a whole new perspective. Whole, being the operative word-- whole body and mind. I have resisted the idea of the mind/body connection because, to me, that meant the pain was somehow in my head. But I have come to realize that of course stress would affect my overall health and my pain level.

So I decided to face the greatest source of stress in my life, even though it had been one of my most closely guarded secrets: mental illness devoured the last recognizable shreds of my mother's personality when I was a teen. I didn't know what was happening, and I worried that it was somehow my fault (because she told me it was). We didn't really have the internet back then (Yep. Feeling old-- and loving it!) and mental illness is one the last taboos to fall, so I was pathetically alone in my attempt to understand my life. This is my shout out to anyone else stuck in a similar situation. Life can get better, but you have to take care of yourself first.

My mom eventually did take her life-- a few weeks before I found out that I was pregnant. Suddenly, I found myself facing motherhood, and feeling slightly less than ready for the task. So I started writing. I wrote about my mom. I wrote about living in pain. Then the two began to intertwine in ways I had never let myself consider. It was an amazing experience.

Once the mess in my head was a little more organized, I went back to the doctors to learn all that I could about what happened to my body. I read the research myself, I did everything I could think of to break the pain cycle long enough to let my nervous system reset. Regular massage and chiropractic appointments lowered my pain levels on their own, but on top of that I did yoga, walked regularly, and took a laundry list of supplements and natural remedies. (Most effective: Fibro Response by Source Naturals: Magnesium, B and D complexes, MSM and Apple Cider Vinegar) Check out the Body Project Tag to see what I did.

I still have RSD/CRPS in my foot and I always will. But I learned to separate that from the pain I felt in my other limbs, back and face. I have determined that it was all a giant breakdown of my body's natural cycle and ability to process pain signals caused by the RSD, and the stress of losing my mother. This breakdown is sometimes called Central Sensitization Syndrome or Fibromyalgia. The way I thought about the pain went from it being a horrible disease that would never go away, to being an interruption that I could correct.

I'm working on it.

Friday, January 29, 2010

TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!! Part 1

2 comments:

Who am I?

me and the hubs

Rosabella Eliza Alice

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