Guess Who’s Back?

Epi. 1

Some of you may recognize the blog name “The Commonplace Queen” and some of you (many of you) will have no idea.  Here is some of the back story:

3 or so years ago I was working in a corporate setting and desperately needing to get my creative energy out.  I could literally feel it bubbling inside of me, ready to erupt at any moment.  I loved my job, the company I worked for and the people I worked with, but I always struggled with the lack of creativity and choice I was able to express in my day job, thus, I turned to blogging as an outlet for that creativity.

After a whirlwind of a year (2021) I am now in a career and “space” that I never thought I would be in.  I love to read, so the easiest analogy is, it was like reading a book, my own book, which was a real page turner, but also exactly predictable. You know the book that takes you through the hell before the heaven or the storm before the rainbow? Yeah, that was my story.    

At the end of 2020, I lost my job, guys! I don’t know how many of you have been told you position is being cut/moved, but it is a tough thing to navigate through.  No matter what anyone says, as humans in this civilization we dump so much of our self-worth into a bucked labeled “what we do for a living”. Our jobs, our careers and our titles become a part of our identity.  No matter how much I saw my job loss coming, I didn’t want to believe that I was “cut-able”, even though I did an excellent job at affirming myself that it was the position that was cut-able, not the person (me) in the position.

Regardless, it SUCKED, all caps, SUCKED.

Now I look back and just like every hard time in my life, I realize why it had it happen and what it was leading me to. It has lead me here, to a dream and a reality that I never thought was going to be possible for me.  I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit, I dream big, I don’t believe in boxes (theoretically, obviously, as I own a gift box company), I see the possibility before I see the risk, and with some fine tuning, I have been able to prompt myself to take all that BIG energy and counter it with logical questions and realistic decision making without dimming my light or the thrill of it all.

Through this job, myself and the girls have had the opportunity to meet amazing people in our community, and MAN the stuff that these local artisans can do and create is unreal.  I can’t help but want to support them and continually find myself cheering them on from my couch as I see them create and unveil their latest masterpiece.  Maybe I react this way because I know the feeling and I can’t help but feel the comradory amongst myself and anyone else who is making a concerted effort to live out their dream.

In the 9 months we have been operating as a business I have come face-to-face with so many lessons, and I know I have so many ahead of me.  This space is a place to share our entrepreneurial experience as well as to share experiences within our local community.

Some local artisans are good with paint brushes, clay, beads, and jewelry, some are amazing coaches and designers of spaces, I like to believe my gifts are my words, my ability to share and of course, being part-owner of this small, self-made, local collective business we so proudly call “Wheat Queens and Prairie Things”.

Welcome to my blog spot!

Mandy