When you read my bio (“multi-passionate gal”), you’ll quickly get the idea—I’m a serial hobbyist. I like to have my hands in a lot of different baskets.
The phrase multi-hyphenate rose in popularity during the 2010’s. Everyone and their dad now has a side-hustle. Books have even been dedicated to the subject, like
’s The Multi-Hyphenate Life, or Marci Alboher’s One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success. I think at one point, Kendall Jenner even had it in her Instagram bio.When I joined
my notes algorithm quickly directed me to and , two writers who share extensively on portfolio careers. Unbeknownst to me, since the early days of university, I’ve been steadily building toward a portfolio career: a career defined by multiple interests and income streams.
I’m now 30 and I’ve never worked a traditional 9-5. During a school placement, I once spent 3 days working a desk job. I quickly realized it was my personal hell (plus, the organization was incredibly under-equipped to take on a practicum student) and left. I postponed my graduation by an entire year to have a different placement, on my feet, working with students all day. I was energized, it was fun, I was so glad I waited.
While at the time I really struggled to make this decision, in hindsight, the decision brought me to my next career path: counselling. To fill an extra semester, I decided to study psychology instead of taking time off. I followed the breadcrumbs, and they led me to exactly where I needed to be for the next chapter of my life. Even as I explore pivoting into a new career, turning counselling into my part-time gig and creative pursuits my full-time focus, I’m thankful for that spunky 23-year-old who metaphorically flipped her desk and pursued her spark.
Nevertheless, I spent the majority of my 20’s resisting my multi-dimensional nature. I so desperately wanted to fit a singular archetype so I might know myself better. But in reality, to know thyself is to embrace my multitudes, even when—especially when they don’t make sense.
As I step into my 30’s my personal mantra has become, “make less sense.” I want to imbue my next decade with more risk taking, creativity, and spontaneity; start a project for giggles, share my work, start, stop, and start again.
Hence, W.I.P. Reports! My aim with this series is to pull back the creative curtain, provide more in-depth pivot updates, and hopefully inspire you to embrace your non-linear nature.
While W.I.P Reports will share parts of my life in progress (think: work transitions, finances, health, relationships), Work In Progress will also translate to…
Well-being: What’s supporting my overall well-being
Inspiration: What’s inspiring me
Pleasure: What’s bringing me joy, balance, and fun
Each month will follow a theme where I share a deep dive into an area of life I’m exploring (think: career, finances, health, relationships) followed by my hit well-being practices, current inspirations, and something that’s brought me pleasure and enjoyment for the month.
I’d love to hear in the comments, what are you dreaming about, noodling on, or in the process creating?
February’s W.I.P. Report: Studio Update
If Not This, Something Better
█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 10% career still loading…
With my husband’s father shortly beginning an uncertain chemo journey, we’ve decided to hit pause on Reclaim Ceramic Studio. If you’re new around here, RCS was a membership-based pottery studio my partner and I were planning to open in 2025.
We had everything locked and loaded: location, funding, suppliers. The morning we submitted a generally agreeable offer on retail space we received the news about Mike’s dad. In cosmically messed up timing, our plans for the year no longer made sense. Opening a new business is stressful enough. Opening a business when your father-in-law in a different city starts their cancer journey? Insanity.
Alongside the anticipatory grief, I also experienced a ton of grief for RCS plans lost. It felt cruel worrying about my work situation when my husband’s dad was so sick. Yet, I had to move through the pain of dreams falling through, coupled with the uncertainty of what my career would look like moving forward.
I was so ready to jump off the cliff from my old life into the new. I’ve shared extensively about the tension I felt, how it began to manifest as anxiety and depression. Something had to change, and RCS was my ticket out.
But what happens when the admission you paid suddenly becomes obsolete?
I found myself trashing in a sea of confusing tears. Was I sad about loosing Greg? Was I sad about potentially moving, how sad my husband now was, or RCS not turning out? I had to give myself the grace to say, all of the above. Of course, all of the above. It all hurts.
It’s been over a month since the studio was put on pause. I feel myself nearing acceptance that RCS may never come to be. Maybe in a couple of years it’ll make sense again, but for now, I’m trusting the redirection that’s taking place.
Like life, entrepreneurship demands we roll with the punches and hold plans lightly. The phrase, if not this something better has carried me through many breakdown moments and it’ll hold me through this one, too. I’m being redirected. I’m being redirected. And whether that’s indefinitely, or just for now, isn’t for me to figure out.
For now, work looks like seeing 4-5 clients a week. Writing weekly for Sacred Pivots like I’m Carrie Bradshaw writing for The New York Star. Hosting a 4-week meditation immersion. Puttering about my home. Walking the dog. Getting out to my make-shift pottery studio in the garage whenever I’m brave enough.
I’m letting work be slow—operating at maintenance rather than growth—because 1) that’s what life is asking of me, and 2) if there were a silver-lining from all this, it’s giving me idle space to be creative. Which, by the way, is kind of hard when you’re attempting to Girl Boss™️ your way through life.
Well-being: Meditating Literally Every Day
In 2017 I took my first 200-hour yoga teacher training. In 2019, I took another. In 2021, I studied meditation and breathwork with Hiro Demichelis from The Lab of Meditation. Life changing hardly does the experience justice.
Over the course of 200-hours, I felt my nervous system soften in a way completely foreign to me at the time. The spring and summer of 2021 were peak pandemic. At the time, I was also living in my now husband’s parent’s basement. My bubble was unbearably small. By all accounts, my mental-health should have been in the gutter.
But, miraculously, it wasn’t.
What I took from my meditation training was this: life is crazy, have a practice that makes you feel less so. For me, that’s been meditation.
Naturally, when this year took a turn for the worse, I knew I needed to ground deeper. Meditating when I “had the time,” or “felt like it” wasn’t going to cut it. I needed to meditate every morning, no matter what.
So, that’s what I’ve been up to, and guess what? It’s working.
It’s not that the pain of this year has vanished. I still cry a lot and fret about the future of my family. But my stress has been made manageable (my eye twitch, gone!) and I have greater access to life’s sweet moments when they arise, because even while grief struck and in shock, they’re still there. Thankfully, meditation gives me better access to them.
And psst… starting March 9th, I’m leading a 4-week meditation immersion. You can learn more here, and I so hope you’ll join us!
Inspiration: Interiors and Design (+ will I really go back to school a third time??)
I’ve been pouring over Architectural Digest’s 100 list, obsessively adding to my “home design” board on Pinterest, and… entertaining the idea of going back to school for design. (!!!)
In Art Monsters, I shared how a particularly nasty professor squashed my confidence ever pursuing a career in design. I was 18 years young, my skin was paper thin, and at the time I had an annoying boyfriend who influenced me not to pursue an art degree. “Have fun working at a cafe your whole life!” What a prick. Yet, I was young and impressionable. When my ego got hurt, I went down wailing.
At the ripe age of 30, I now have confidence, self-care tactics up the wazoo, and the wherewithal to navigate feedback with receptivity and grace. At least, I think.
At this point, while I haven’t committed to the idea of returning to school, I have committed myself to the idea of building a portfolio. To practice drawing and painting and ceramics. To maybe even explore other sculptural work, furniture design, or take art classes.
I have a dream to visit NYC next year for the Frieze art fair, spending a couple weeks immersing myself in the art world. At this point, I crave the MoMA like a tomato plant craves sun. My inside scream, move toward the light. My light being New York City and modern art. This trip feels like the next step in my longtime dream of working as a creative, and living in NYC part-time.
Pleasure: Learning the Knit + Purl
My latest craft binge: knitting. Fortunately, my delusions are serving me. I decided my first project would be a grey, knit sweater. Bitting off more than I can chew? Don’t know her.
I’m following The Lakes Pullover pattern from Ozetta. I’ve taught myself everything I know using The Internet (bless!) from how to cast on, to how to stockinette stitch.
It’s been exhilarating.
As I’ve gotten more comfortable with the medium, I find I’m knitting every chance I can get. While watching Severance, sitting middle seat on flights (my audacity, I know!), as I sip my morning tea.
With more researching coming out on the benefit of working with our hands, I think I’m right on track, learning a skill of my grandmothers. It’s also made me more aware of the time and reverence put in making garments. The Babaa sweater I salivate over, or the COS cashmere that’s been in my cart since time immemorial? They both feel more and more worth the splurge with each passing knit and purl. However, given my new found love of knitting, as well as low-buy clothing (max 12 items!) and debt repayment goals for 2025, I will delude myself in believing I can knit them.
Let me know in the comments, what are you working on?
Xx,
T
So happy the algo sent you my way! And congrats on the new series 🫶🏼