This is poem by Fernando Pessoa sums up something I’ve been feeling but could not put into words.

It's the last month of the craziest year and well, I am happy that now when I look back I smile, there are some very good memories, some very, very scary times, but I still work, my business keeps going, and I’ve somehow adapted to all these many changes. Flexibility, is what this year has taught me.

Seeing those around me adapt and keeping their hope up it is very inspiring and motivating to me as well.

I started making jewelry basically for myself, I sometimes shared images online on Flickr I believe and Myspace (11 years ago!).

Then one day a girl asked me if the teacup with the stars was for sale, mind you I had the most strange beautiful shock, someone actually wanted to wear something I made, I was nervous and happy, and I remember running to tell my teacher as in “What do I say?, How does it work?, “Ahhh, pricing!”, he just rolled his eyes, like when we asked silly questions, as many of his other students will attest :) .

That was my first sale and this was the teacup with the stars inside:

That was the beginning of a complete change in my life, the possibility was there, the hope of making a living out of something I absolutely love, it involved a complete new lifestyle, one without having a fixed wage at the end of the month, involving feelings that this year have come back to visit, uncertainty, fear etc.

It is a fight worth fighting and to this day, with everything that has happened this year, three things I know, I still love silent moments of just making, I still jump out surprised and happy every time I make a sale and I still have hope.

Thank you for being part of my story.