Happy New Year!
I’ve got plenty of reasons to say “buh bye!” to 2022, starting with doing battle last year with cancer, chemo, and Covid. That was no fun!
But I’m equally psyched to say hello to 2023 because I appear to be back in the saddle. At least for now.
First, The Good News
Life-threatening sicknesses are funny things. They often bestow unexpected blessings. One blessing for me was that I quit my day job doing writing and graphic design for others. I’m currently into that whole “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” thing. Hint: It’s not to do work just for work’s sake.
So, I’ve ended all my marketing work for clients for good. *Deep sigh.* Yes, it’s a bit scary to take that leap.
I’m also through with chemo and radiation…for now. While no one has yet said that the cancer is gone, life goes on. Future tests will give me more insight. Meantime, I have so much fabric to find and fondle and freak out for that I don’t have time to wallow or wait.
So as I look at the 1000s of pieces of vintage fabric in my Staunton, Virginia showroom, and stare at work days stretching into…well, not quite eternity…and sense that newfound post-health-scare-possible-death-sentence zest for life, I’m ready to take Lady Virginia from a one-time side hustle into one of my main gigs.
So get ready to follow along — to browse, to drool, to shop, and to learn more than you ever thought possible about vintage fabrics and textiles!
If you’re a DIYer, interior designer, hobby seamstress or tailor, crafter, quilter, mixed media artist, or any kind of fabric lover, 2023 promises you lots more consistent listings added to my Lady Virginia Etsy shop.
You’ll also hear my views on how the eco-friendly and historic reasons to use vintage fabric over newly made stuff only gets stronger with each passing day on our stressed planet.
Staying In Touch
My returning to more activity with Lady Virginia also means that YOU’LL be the first ones to get early announcements about sales and insider-only events, fresh writing on adding textiles into your life, and an e-mail newsletter tying it all together.
Write On!
Speaking of blogs and newsletters, while I have your attention I want to tell you about an exciting side project of mine that’s coming out today!
The Dove
This week I launch The Dove, a newsletter on the e-platform SubStack. These are musings that go well beyond fabrics and interiors and buying or making stuff (though I still love that, too).
It’s in The Dove that I’ll let loose my personal takes, burning thoughts, and, one hopes, worthy observations on faith in frivolous times. That is to say on spirituality, on what means something to us beyond the flashy consumerism, depressing news cycles, dumbed-down dialog, and robotic political divides that too often define what it means to be a part of American society and culture.
I’ll also write on simple lifestyles in an era of over-complexity, and, full disclosure here, on how I see Christianity fitting in to the picture these days. It wasn’t easy for me to step out as a spiritual writer, as I explain in my first post on The Dove.
The Still Small Voice Within
The very same thing that excites me about vintage fabric — its beauty, connection to the past, eco-friendliness, and enduring relevance in our lives — is the same motivator that makes me look beyond our material world toward a timeless truth, beauty, and goodness that gives humanity our thirst for something noble and worthy and inspiring. That thirst is on more and more folks’ minds these days and yet we’re a bit reluctant to talk about it.
I want to help change that. I want the marketplace of ideas to matter again, and I want that which calls forth our highest selves at the center, not the periphery, of conversations.
You don’t have to be a Jesus freak to be engaged with The Dove, though you can be. You just have to believe that LOVE and a higher purpose still matter to 21st century lives and be willing to entertain ideas about how we get there.
The big news to add to this is that it’s a subscription-based project. I’ll have some free pieces for sure, but also a paid version with more content, chats, and exclusive features. All for the low low price of $6 bucks a month.
Tell me you’re sold?! 🙂
Supporting this venture will help me to be a part-time writer on my own terms, while I also keep Lady Virginia Vintage Fabrics chugging along.
Luckily you can see it for free, and sign up for free to give it a chance. I hope you’ll want to stay and deepen the dialog together. Or if you know someone who’s interested in contemporary issues in spirituality, please share a link to The Dove.
Meantime keep it tuned to this bat station for all the fabric news that’s fit to print. Stay healthy, hug your people, share your gratitude, and be generous with love. That’s the real news of 2023.
—Lindsay Curren, Lady Virginia Vintage Fabrics
