Good to see your plans for 2024 and I hope they come to fruition for each of you. They may change and develop along the way but when work involves Nature and creativity I guess that’s inevitable! I look forward to seeing the fruits of yours and Emma’s labours💫💚 and may 2024 bring you all abundant blessings.
Great plans for the year ahead. Could I make a suggestion? I have NO idea what a shrink pot is (never heard that term) but they look beautiful on your website. Maybe you could dedicate a post to explaining what they are, include some pictures in your post and link back to your store page. Maybe that would boost sales...maybe not. But if I'm intrigued others might also be.
You sell stuff, I don't think you should be afraid to share that in your newsletter. 😊
Thanks Kristi! That's a good suggestion - always open to ideas for new posts. I did mention the shrink pots before a while back, but they probably do warrant their own dedicated post. When we started writing here, the plan was to include tutorials and insights into woodworking and traditional crafts but we got distracted along the way - thanks for the reminder!
Thank you for sharing your 2024 ideas, they’re really inspiring and a reminder that dreams are valuable in giving us direction!
This year is a focus on clearing debt and getting back into a stable financial position for me. I currently have a dull desk job, which isn’t ideal, but is a good safe place from which to get money things under control again. Ultimately, I want to start saving seriously for investment into pottery equipment and a space to create in. It feels like a pipe dream, but we’ve all got to start somewhere.
Thank you Holly. We appreciate you sharing your ideas with us too! That sounds like a solid plan - we have always opted to follow our hearts over our finances but because of that we are on the back foot a lot of the time and struggling to make ends meet. Fingers crossed the financial security gives you flexibility to do what you want. The pottery sounds great - there's a neat place near us where you can rent space in a pottery workshop for pretty cheap, I wonder if you have anything like that near you? Thanks again for sharing and best wishes for the year ahead!
You have some excellent goals, and I think it is highly valuable to see them written out like that. I think it is the first step in making them a reality.
I am also a little conflicted about Substack. A big goal for me this year is to grow it and offer a paid option in the late spring, when I've been able to maintain a regular posting schedule for a year. But the pressure of putting out quality content week after week is stressful! I would like to explore creating a photobook, ebook, or regular book this year, too. Its hard to make any progress there, when I seem to always be working on the next Field Notes issue!
Thanks Erik! I'm glad to hear it's not me with regards to Substack - I certainly feel like I'm always working on the next issue too! If it helps, from the outside it looks like you're doing a great job here and I think folks will be happy to pay for your words and beautiful photography. For me I question whether the rewards equate to the level of energy invested - could I be doing something better with my time? Making things? Taking more photos? At the moment I enjoy it and writing regularly has helped me find my voice for which I'm thankful so I'm going to keep going for now! Good luck with your plans for 2024 - excited to see what you have in store.
You're very kind! It is definitely a labor of love. I find that every post, photo, and essay is a fulfillment of experience. It gives a mission or purpose to my adventures, beyond personal enjoyment. It's just hard to keep it up in my 'spare' time outside of my regular work schedule. But, I'm excited to continue and I can't wait to read about your adventures ahead!
To both of you (Erik and Andrew), I do hope you both find meaningful ways to continue with your Substacks because I really enjoy them. I'm sure others do as well.
I totally get the burnout/lack of time factor, I've experienced that in the past. But readers are an understanding bunch. If you have to take time off people understand that. 😊
Thanks! I have no intention of slowing down. But, it would be a nice relief to be able to get ahead of the curve with 3 to 4 finished drafts ready to fire off.😁
Yeah there's that lol. I have more free time than anyone I know and I'm still not that far ahead.
Maybe you could do a "photography for dummies" post one day. Like how could an average dummy (me) start for $1000.00 or less. I'd love to get a real camera but have no clue what's good. I haven't had a camera since 12 mp digital cameras were a thing 😁
Thanks, Hadge for the words of encouragement. I like the idea of a Lakeland Nature Journal - much of the writing about the lakes tends to focus on the summits, but it would be nice to publish something that shines a light on the details. You should definitely start a Substack! I've found it a very rewarding practice - look forward to seeing the first one soon.
Good to see your plans for 2024 and I hope they come to fruition for each of you. They may change and develop along the way but when work involves Nature and creativity I guess that’s inevitable! I look forward to seeing the fruits of yours and Emma’s labours💫💚 and may 2024 bring you all abundant blessings.
Great plans for the year ahead. Could I make a suggestion? I have NO idea what a shrink pot is (never heard that term) but they look beautiful on your website. Maybe you could dedicate a post to explaining what they are, include some pictures in your post and link back to your store page. Maybe that would boost sales...maybe not. But if I'm intrigued others might also be.
You sell stuff, I don't think you should be afraid to share that in your newsletter. 😊
Thanks Kristi! That's a good suggestion - always open to ideas for new posts. I did mention the shrink pots before a while back, but they probably do warrant their own dedicated post. When we started writing here, the plan was to include tutorials and insights into woodworking and traditional crafts but we got distracted along the way - thanks for the reminder!
You're welcome! I'll look forward to seeing that in the future 😊
Thank you for sharing your 2024 ideas, they’re really inspiring and a reminder that dreams are valuable in giving us direction!
This year is a focus on clearing debt and getting back into a stable financial position for me. I currently have a dull desk job, which isn’t ideal, but is a good safe place from which to get money things under control again. Ultimately, I want to start saving seriously for investment into pottery equipment and a space to create in. It feels like a pipe dream, but we’ve all got to start somewhere.
All the best for 2024
Thank you Holly. We appreciate you sharing your ideas with us too! That sounds like a solid plan - we have always opted to follow our hearts over our finances but because of that we are on the back foot a lot of the time and struggling to make ends meet. Fingers crossed the financial security gives you flexibility to do what you want. The pottery sounds great - there's a neat place near us where you can rent space in a pottery workshop for pretty cheap, I wonder if you have anything like that near you? Thanks again for sharing and best wishes for the year ahead!
You have some excellent goals, and I think it is highly valuable to see them written out like that. I think it is the first step in making them a reality.
I am also a little conflicted about Substack. A big goal for me this year is to grow it and offer a paid option in the late spring, when I've been able to maintain a regular posting schedule for a year. But the pressure of putting out quality content week after week is stressful! I would like to explore creating a photobook, ebook, or regular book this year, too. Its hard to make any progress there, when I seem to always be working on the next Field Notes issue!
Thanks Erik! I'm glad to hear it's not me with regards to Substack - I certainly feel like I'm always working on the next issue too! If it helps, from the outside it looks like you're doing a great job here and I think folks will be happy to pay for your words and beautiful photography. For me I question whether the rewards equate to the level of energy invested - could I be doing something better with my time? Making things? Taking more photos? At the moment I enjoy it and writing regularly has helped me find my voice for which I'm thankful so I'm going to keep going for now! Good luck with your plans for 2024 - excited to see what you have in store.
You're very kind! It is definitely a labor of love. I find that every post, photo, and essay is a fulfillment of experience. It gives a mission or purpose to my adventures, beyond personal enjoyment. It's just hard to keep it up in my 'spare' time outside of my regular work schedule. But, I'm excited to continue and I can't wait to read about your adventures ahead!
To both of you (Erik and Andrew), I do hope you both find meaningful ways to continue with your Substacks because I really enjoy them. I'm sure others do as well.
I totally get the burnout/lack of time factor, I've experienced that in the past. But readers are an understanding bunch. If you have to take time off people understand that. 😊
Thanks! I have no intention of slowing down. But, it would be a nice relief to be able to get ahead of the curve with 3 to 4 finished drafts ready to fire off.😁
Yeah there's that lol. I have more free time than anyone I know and I'm still not that far ahead.
Maybe you could do a "photography for dummies" post one day. Like how could an average dummy (me) start for $1000.00 or less. I'd love to get a real camera but have no clue what's good. I haven't had a camera since 12 mp digital cameras were a thing 😁
Thanks, Hadge for the words of encouragement. I like the idea of a Lakeland Nature Journal - much of the writing about the lakes tends to focus on the summits, but it would be nice to publish something that shines a light on the details. You should definitely start a Substack! I've found it a very rewarding practice - look forward to seeing the first one soon.