Diary of a Smart Chick

Various writings from a curious mind

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  • many human trafficking victims are children
    Interviews,  Mental Health

    Dressember: Fight Human Trafficking Through A Community Style Challenge and The Power of Crochet, Slow Fashion, and Sustainability

    November 30, 2020

    Dressember is a movement to fight human trafficking. Each December, teams come together to raise money for the cause. They do so by committing to wearing a dress or tie every day of the month, sharing it on social media along with information about human trafficking, sex trafficking, and slave labor, and asking people to donate. I’ve decided to join the Namaste and Crochet team this year, which has an additional component: raising awareness about the power of crochet and knitting as slow fashion, sustainable, ethical antidotes to fast fashion which is one major contributor to slave labor around the world. My personal fundraising goal is $1000. Ready to donate?…

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    music interview

    Musician Interview with Heather Schmid About Transformations

    March 7, 2019
    creative duo Orange Barrel Industries

    Creative Duo Interview: Orange Barrel Industries

    August 20, 2019

    Interview with Sumi Ink and Honey Watercolor Artist Ms. Muse

    September 7, 2018
  • writing crafting moods
    About Me or This Blog,  Mental Health

    How Writing, Crafting, and Depression Came Together in a Book

    September 19, 2019

    This is a post about the intersection of writing, crafting, and depression in my life. It originally appeared on the Sibel Hodge blog as a guest post. It was intended to promote my then-new book, Crochet Saved My Life. Since it’s no longer available on the original site, I thought I’d re-publish it again here. Crafting Together a Life One Stitch at a Time  For many years I led parallel lives where the different passions and experiences that I had didn’t seem to intersect much. As I’ve gotten older and grown into myself more, things have begun to converge. I’ve become more fully the person I am meant to be.…

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    literacy volunteer

    Literacy Volunteer: Appreciating the Ease of Reading and Writing

    August 19, 2019
    blog typewriter

    Hello world! (Again)

    September 2, 2018
    drowning feeling in depression

    Dr(Owning) and S(Wallowing) in Depression

    May 23, 2019
  • About Me or This Blog,  Mental Health

    Launching Crochet Saved My Life: Early on My Book Publishing Journey

    August 25, 2019

    This was originally a guest post on the website Whip Up. I wrote it to promote my then-new book, Crochet Saved My Life. That was back in 2012. Since that post is no longer up on the original site, I thought I’d re-publish it again here. It was an early step on my self-publishing journey and my explorations into Crafting to Heal. There I am … a doubled-over heap of empty sobs balled up onto the bathroom floor, rocking back and forth trying to calm away the palpitating pain. My mind keeps racing around and around, exploring the tempting (but frightening) options for suicide. I could take some pills, I…

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    Related Posts

    literacy volunteer

    Literacy Volunteer: Appreciating the Ease of Reading and Writing

    August 19, 2019
    writing crafting moods

    How Writing, Crafting, and Depression Came Together in a Book

    September 19, 2019
    blog typewriter

    Hello world! (Again)

    September 2, 2018
  • drowning feeling in depression
    About Me or This Blog,  Mental Health

    Dr(Owning) and S(Wallowing) in Depression

    May 23, 2019

    I originally wrote this post for Rebelle Society years ago. It remains relevant to my depression story today, so I wanted to share it again. It expresses how despite living with chronic relapses of depression over the past 25 years, I don’t always know in the beginning of each one what is going on. I think it’s something else, usually something that’s my fault, until I finally realize it’s depression again. Depression came back. It walked right in through the front door while I was busy guarding all of the windows and cracks. It ignored the sign warning that “danger, there’s a dog here to protect me”. It sidled up…

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    Related Posts

    blog typewriter

    Hello world! (Again)

    September 2, 2018

    Launching Crochet Saved My Life: Early on My Book Publishing Journey

    August 25, 2019
    literacy volunteer

    Literacy Volunteer: Appreciating the Ease of Reading and Writing

    August 19, 2019
  • what depression looks like
    Mental Health

    How Sharing My Depression Story Helped Me Help Others

    September 3, 2018

    In 2012, I published a book called Crochet Saved My Life, in which I shared the stories of two dozen women who had used yarncrafting to heal and improve the symptoms of a diverse array of mental and physical ailments. The first story I shared was my own. It is a story of living through 15+ years of chronic depression without knowing or naming it. It is a story of nearing the depths of suicidality. Additionally, it is about pulling myself out of that depth. I did that with help from therapy, medication, yoga, a strong support network and, yes, crochet. Sharing my story was relatively easy by the time…

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    Related Posts

    drowning feeling in depression

    Dr(Owning) and S(Wallowing) in Depression

    May 23, 2019
    writing crafting moods

    How Writing, Crafting, and Depression Came Together in a Book

    September 19, 2019
    many human trafficking victims are children

    Dressember: Fight Human Trafficking Through A Community Style Challenge and The Power of Crochet, Slow Fashion, and Sustainability

    November 30, 2020

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I commit to using my skills / experience in writing, crafting and therapeutic creativity to assist others in understanding, exploring and achieving their creative dreams, honoring their artistic selves and healing their inner and outer worlds. This is done primarily through the channel of crochet but incorporates information from other areas of craft, art, creativity, and psychology. Subscribers receive my newsletter and additional rewards at various funding levels. As we reach collective milestones, I donate copies of my books to those in need.

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