I thought I’d write something to kill the time. I tried for a while to let creativity or pent up ideas flow out of me. Isn’t there a topic or 3 (or 300) I wanted to explore?
But it’s so damn hot and the vibes are off.
Today I am looking after @tentententen’s yarn shop at a flea market. This event is a bit of a hit or miss. It was originally a regular flea market for old stuff at cheap prices but since used clothing has become such a trend in Tokyo, these events are usually half trendy used clothing businesses that sell their stuff for high prices.
That leaves the door open for some stalls like us, selling handmade goods.
Yesterday we got a spot in the middle, which isn’t as good as near the entrance, but much better than today where we are off to one side, where there is very little foot traffic. We also got sandwiched between a bunch of older people who don’t really understand modern fashion, and generally just want a bargain rather than something unique.
The young people hang around the used clothing and that’s more of who buys our stuff.
It’s so strange, in the middle of the summer we sold 6 hats at this event, despite it not being the season for yarn.
Now, about 2 weeks before it cools down, we haven’t sold anything.
That’s ok. Next week we have two more events. One is the neighborhood market we usually do well at, and another is an art exhibition which will bring a lot of new eyes to her work.
We originally planned to start a company at the end of the year but the new “Japan First” narrative, however unpopular, is leading politicians to pander towards the more racist 20% of the population. This has made it more difficult so we may need to pivot and make a new plan.
Like Europe and America, they will adopt policies that make it harder for honest foreigners to live here while leaving open loopholes that cause the same problems they claim they want to prevent. “Too many undocumented people coming through the southern border? Let’s kick out all the foreign students!” These kinds of policies do well everywhere cause they get the angriest portion of the population fired up donating and supporting policies that ultimately benefit doners. Same shit everywhere.
Anyway!
I’m used to policy ruining my plans.
The harder they push me into a corner, the more I want to double down. They’ll have to kill me if they want to stop me. I’m not scared anymore.
Instead of complaining, I’d rather double down and push our work and our art even harder. She’s got her first yarn art exhibition and I’ve got my first album to work on. The more independent minded people are pushed into a corner, the more we connect and learn to collaborate.
I started with an idea for a new album about a month ago, and while I’ve nearly completed two songs, I’ve revived a few old ones too and I feel like the album will be half finished before long!
It’s hard to let lyrics flow under these conditions but once they start flowing, they won’t stop, and now I’ve got a full set up to record, 100% up and ready. This week I will prepare for my next concert and try to book it
Who knows, maybe the struggles will inspire my work to be even better.
Posted Using INLEO