haha I was just scrollin the furfright tag on flickr and going down the deepest memory lane, i love it

We gettin there.... he is gonna be HANDSOME!!!

I think being a 100 year old furry is VERY funny. I experience furry very differently these days, but I appreciate the way I've gotten to see friends, events and the culture grow and change around me.

it's honestly wild to look at like... "help me decorate" reddits and see how often most regular folks own NO art!! Bless furries for seeing such value in it, and really being a group of people who prioritize that self expression. Buying it, showing it off, etc!! It's so rewarding all around!!

I do OKAY now, but I do still qualify for the fun poverty health insurance (it whips btw, I wish everyone could have it!!). But yeah, folks with day jobs I think don't have any idea how much being self employed ACTUALLY costs!! 40% of my income is basically gone immediately haha.

pretty much, yeah! You generally use a heat press instead of an iron, since you don't want steam in the process, and you want more precise temperatures. But it works for a lot of materials and surfaces, basically anything polyester or plastic!

I will admit I feel a lil awkward sharing this stuff, but I think it's worth knowing what the realities of this can be!! I have often worried that people perceive me as unreliable because I move so much/end up in a lot of different situations, but my work really is my main focus and drive!!

I use a converted Epson eco tank!! Dye sublimation is actually not wildly expensive to get into, but I think the main issue you’d want to consider is how often you’d print, as the print heads clog if they're not used regularly.

Anyways, not sharing for any kind of pity party, my life has been a fascinating tapestry of experiences and I am curious what comes next!! But I think it's also important to peek behind the curtain at the reality of making a creative living, and some of the sacrifices it requires.

Most of how I have survived this long is simply that I have been EXTRAORDINARILY lucky to have community support. Friends who will trade services, roommates who understand my job, peers who mentored or directed me, etc. PLUS my incredible tolerance for eating dubious food.... ✌️

So yes, I've had a number of safety nets throughout the years!! Most also came with trade offs for my mental health, honestly. I also go without a lot of things! I spent most of my adult life without a car, I cut my own hair, I thrift most of what I own, have avoided having pets, etc.

Now I live alone! It's REALLY hard!! A few situations in the last few years (dental surgery, repeated moves, etc) have nuked my savings, and with the current...everything, I worry often about my stability. I like what I do a lot and I like living alone, but I won't pretend it isn't scary and hard!!

After that I lived with a well off partner who paid the bulk of our expenses ( we split 70/30 to match to our income disparity ) and got me health insurance.

When that ended, I lived with 2 roommates for a few years.

CONT.

We eventually lived with 3 or 4 roommates at any given time in a house my mother bought. We lived just above poverty for many many years.

When we split, I lived in a car for a while and then moved to Oregon and did this while living for free as live-in childcare. It honestly RULED lol.

CONT.