On The Feeling of Home

These times certainly pose opportunity for contemplation.
Contemplation, and solitude of course are not foreign states for me. They’re ones I find myself inhabiting regularly, if not striving to obtain more routinely and consistently.

The concept of home is one that is often on my mind, but especially so in these last few weeks.
How many don’t have a safe or comfortable one to retreat to in these times.
How many I have had over the years.
How tired of mine I am.
How happy in mine I am.
How I often ascribe the feeling of home with temporary places or people that I meet.
(Most recently with a man in a pair of raw denim jeans, beat up leather boots and kind eyes, standing on a sidewalk…)

I am fortunate to have had many homes.
Indeed, to still have many homes.

And while I am both in the midst of trying to find a permanent place and home that is wholly mine, and also get back to one of my homes (The Road), I am still pressed to move into a state of gratitude for it all.

So here’s a little collection of film photos from one of my old Richmond apartments.
My favorite one in fact.
Taken in a new season of my life, albeit long ago, and blossoming with exciting potential, contented wonder and settling in.

And as hard and utterly frustrating as some things have been in this current season of my life, I still associate those same aforementioned feelings with where I am now.

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Folkling Shop Update | The Best Clothing Has A Story To Tell

I found this snap-front made in the USA denim Wrangler shirt in Texas during my year on The Road a few months back.
It had a few holes and some fraying on the hem, but I believe strongly in there being immense beauty in clothing that shows a little bit of character and grit and it being better than all of the fast fashion BS out there…

After all, the best clothing has a story to tell.

Suggested listen: Sunset Canyon by Foxwarren

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Folkling Vintage 3 Day Sale

Cinemagraph by Meagan Abell

This image is from 2016.
In my last apartment in Richmond. Back when I was first dreaming up Folkling and thinking about sharing my love of old things and living a more sustainable life with others in a more tangible way.

Fast forward four years and how it’s evolved and helped me to more feasibly live a life of motion on The Road and brought some pretty life changing people and experiences into my life—I am humbled.

It’s been a hard time for all of us in varying ways, and honestly I feel like I'm barely scraping by in the way of making ends meet right now, but there is still so much good to focus on and I am doing my best to continue to do that this month.

If you have the means, and are wanting to give a home to a special old thing to brighten up your maybe-over-spent days in your home—I got you covered.
 

Supporting small businesses is important now more than ever and I’m not just saying that because I own one. 

The ingenuity and hard work of so many creative minds is what this country is built on. Let’s bond together and make sure that continues through these trying times to the best of our ability.

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⋒⋒⋒ 3 Day Instagram Story Sale ⋒⋒⋒

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 I am having a sale over on the Folkling Instagram through the weekend!
Pieces will be posted in the story and purchased through DM and paid for via Venmo/PayPal.

 Watch for some deals. 
Combined shipping available for multiple pieces!
 

Thursday $40 Sale

Friday $20 Sale

Saturday $15 Sale

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A Type of Heaven

Voices mix with the ice in the whiskey and the night pulls up around us.

Worn boots rest on weathered decks.

Half-mast eyes look on. 

Glass rims are raised to meet knowing smiles.

Time pushes back against the tide coming in and for a moment it is within this still alcove of water that all else in the world pauses too.

It is a storied wonder that this is perceived as a type of heaven. 

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Folkling Shop Update | Wild Like The West

It’s no secret that despite being an East Coast girl, a proud Virginian through and through, I have a love affair with the wild wild west.

I spent a year living on The Road last year out of my Subaru Outback, Blue Moon, and documenting stories and narratives from rodeos to cattle drives.

I met a lot of hard working men and women across America from all walks of life.
What I loved most was that they all embodied a deep sense of pride in the ability to work hard for themselves and their families and provide needed resources for others.

These vintage pieces remind me of the sense of timeless style from those regions, the expansive landscapes, and the utilitarian pride that comes from a long day of working hard with your hands.

Shop the Chocolate Suede Vest and the Roebucks Indigo Denim Work Vest.

Suggested listen: The Devil Wears A Suit & Tie by Colter Wall

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Quarantine: A Self Portrait

I continue to be healthy and well, as are those closest to me and I am grateful for that.

I haven’t wanted to write about what’s going on because, frankly, I’m tired of reading about it and talking about it and thinking about it.

But in a world of rising unsureness, it is in a way unnerving to attempt to make plans and think about the future when you’re not really sure what the future is going to look like.

When will things go back to normal?
What will ‘normal’ even look like after all of this?
Will everyone I know and love be okay?
Will I be able to pay my bills?

Then again, that is largely how it’s always been.

There have always been bad things going on in the world, things we haven’t been able to control or understand, and while this particular case is unlike anything we’ve seen in many of our lifetimes—every generation has such events.

There have always been daily invitations into downward spirals of stress and anxiety. 
Things to draw our attention away from resting in contentment and finding joy in our present.

So while we wait and watch the world around us shifting into more panic and fear, regardless of our feelings on it being warranted or not, there are two things we can do:

1. Take it all one day at a time.

2. Be grateful for the good that you have in your arms to hold and the ability to hold it.

Quarantine: A self portrait.
Masks made from raw denim, recycled copper wire, leather and vintage thread.

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What's Coming Next

I am coming back to blogging.

I have found myself saying that often over the past few years in my sporadic sharing on this platform. This is the year I am really going to do it! And then….. five posts later, Okay now THIS is *really* the year I am going to do it…. cue same result.
And perhaps this time is just like all of those other times, but honestly this time feels different.

Because now this time, in many ways, it’s all I have.

With the world in its current state of social distancing and staying at home and daily doses of fear that invite so much confusion and anxiety—It feels like now is the time more than ever that I need to remember who I am.

And one of the things that has always pulled me back from any edge I have ever found myself on (we won’t get into how many there have been… I am an emotional creature) is sharing the beauty I see in the world.
Through words.
Through images.
Through stories.

It is a common understanding that we are all made of stories, and yet it is one of my biggest pulls to any individual I cross paths with.
Everyone’s unique narrative and my ability to bear witness to it.

I am living out one of my own that feels important to share. Not for the validation, though that is often the temptation, rather for the specific ability to offer a communal understanding and empathetic view of shared experience. Of opening up our minds and hearts to things unknown to us until exactly now that were found only within the bravery of open expression.

I also feel the need to share honestly in that part of me has felt empty since coming home.

And that’s largely because when I pulled into Virginia four months ago, after living a life on The Road for 333 days last year, I stopped telling stories.

Sure, verbally I told a few to some friends and family, and the occasional stranger who I’d meet that would pull one out of me because they’d comment on my jacket, or my hat, or the fact that I-don’t-look-like-I’m-from-around-here-even-though-I-am-it’s-just-that-I-hang-out-with-cowboys-too-much….
But mostly I’ve kept to myself and closed up in the unknown of what’s coming next in my life.

I stopped writing.

And writing has always been an integral part of me.
I have long felt that as long as I made time for both reading and writing, it was a day well lived.
The coupling of learning something new, and sharing my experience.

All of our experiences are different, especially during a time like this, but it feels important now more than ever to share that.
Resources, stories, kindness, wisdom, love, understanding, empathy…
It is within the recognition that there are experiences outside of your own that life is most often meant to be lived.

Which is why yours is one worth sharing.

Folkling Shop Update | Dressed In White

These two dresses evoked a type of simple elegance and beauty to me when I found them.
Meant for bare feet open-field running and adding a hint of sunshine to your life even on the cloudiest of days.
Pieces meant not for a special occasion, but to make an everyday kind of day special.
Handpicked in Ol Virginny.

Shop dresses here and here.

Suggested listen: Scenic World by Beirut

The 900 Kilometers Scarf

I used to have a full time knitwear design job.
I would design and release knitwear collections seasonally and knit all of the pieces myself, by hand, one stitch at a time.

(You can see some past collections here, here and here if you like)

I gave it up a few years ago in pursuit of other ventures, but lately I’ve been missing creating things with my hands so I’ve been knitting a few pieces again here and there.

I had the pleasure of knitting this commissioned one-of-a-kind piece while I was in Ireland. Inspired by the rolling green landscapes and the 900 or so kilometers driven over the course of a week.

Knitting is a thing I’ve done for almost twenty years of my life and you just can’t shake that kind of engrained motion.

Perhaps more knitwear work will be in my future down one of these roads somewhere...

See more posts on Ireland HERE.

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Folkling Shop Update | Cliffs of Moher Mohair Sweater

I found this slate grey mohair sweater in Northern Ireland and photographed it on the Cliffs of Moher.
A find so beautiful and meant not for a special occasion, but to make an everyday kind of day special.

It’s ethereally dreamy, soft to the touch and has a timeless style that defies trends and will keep you warm for years to come.

You can shop this sweater here.