I’m starting this blog because I often reflect about my own philosophies and the ways I can use them as a guide to build a life I am proud of. These philosophies directly inspire my designs and processes. This blog is a place for me to put my thoughts into writing so I can better explore these ideas and themes as they arise and evolve. This blog is a place where you can connect with my work more deeply and get to know the inner workings of my mind.
If you’ve been following my work for a while, you probably already know a little bit about me, but in case you don’t: I’m Maddy and I’m 26 years old (27 on April 5th ;). I’m from Freehold Boro, NJ and I’ve been living in Philly since 2014. I’ve been a jeweler for about six years and I’ve been working on my own jewelry full-time since October 2021. I love learning about new things, traveling, building, riding my bike, being outside, music, skateboarding, and adornment arts. I don’t have a college degree and the last time I regularly shared my personal writing was in middle school (when I was a very sad poet, lol). I’m pretty nervous to be sharing my thoughts and ideas but I’m doing it with the hope that we can both walk away a little more full!
To get us started off on the same page: most of my work deals with my own view on life that I have been describing as “practical optimism”. I was under the impression that I invented this term, but a Google search quickly proved me wrong. Edutopia.org describes it as “an attitude about life that relies on taking realistic, positive action to increase the likelihood of successful results”. I think about my life through the lens of practical optimism filtered through the lens of building and structure. I think concretely and abstractly about what it would take to build something both efficient and strong. I am interested in the ways we can use this frame of reference to build a world and society that we can all be proud of and happy with. Practical optimism takes matters into your own hands and is realistic about possible outcomes while working towards the best possible outcome.
Here's a goofy little selfie I took with some of my tools!
Check back Monday for my next blog post. :-*