Exciting New Chapter: YouTube

Hello out there. It's been a while since I've posted an update but I've been busy making some exciting new changes!

First, a little bit of context.

This year has been HARD. I've been dealing with unexplained chronic daily headaches since about January. And by chronic daily headaches I mean one, very long, never-ending mystery headache. Went through a long list of possible triggers with my doc, got a CT Scan and an MRI that showed nothing wrong. Some days were better than others but it was always there. Since it was still there with no answers by the end of July, I decided to take a break from my day job and focus on my health.

I'm now on a medication that is starting to work, the headache is mostly gone, thankfully, but the time off work has been a great opportunity to really think about what I want to do with my art and my writing. I have been wanting to open up an online shop for a while, just to sell a few handmade goods here and there. So the past few months I've been working on how to structure everything, and how to juggle these two sides of myself- the writer who always does horror, with the artist who doesn't always do horror.

I started working on a business plan, and even made a schedule for myself and a system for project management- whoa do I have a heaping pile of projects! It's been slow going- I've never been great at managing my own time, but it's been nice to focus on what I want to create and what I want to put out there. I have so many ideas!

One issue that has been plaguing me is the question of whether or not to keep these two businesses separate. After all, in a business and marketing sense, sticking to one niche is recommended for optimal success. Beep, Boop, Blorp. Thanks, Business Robot! I've been wanting to combine them, for simplicity's sake (I have three Instagrams right now, fucking christ, it's the worst!). Emotionally, it has felt like that would be a big mistake, a huge anvil above my head, waiting to fall the second I make the wrong choice.

Putting off the big scary decision, I've started playing around a bit with short-form video. I'm not very good at it yet, but I'm not hating it as much as I thought. I've always hated editing. Back in my film school days, editing made me so miserable. This type of content doesn't need much editing and doesn't need to be perfect. It's just a way to show the world what I'm up to. Which is actually kinda nice. This has led to me impulsively deciding to start a YouTube channel, and I've already recorded my first video. It shows me crocheting a big, glow-in-the-dark spider web in front of my house.

Now that I had a video - one that would be best released by Halloween - I needed to make a decision. Luckily, taking the time to create rather than ruminate is very good for making my brain work. Mid-web-building I thought of a name for my channel, Moody's Multiverse, and instantly sidestepped that anvil hanging over my head. A multi-verse for my multi-interests. I realized I don't really care about being a huge success. Maybe my niche is people who like what I do. Even if that's like ten total people, that's ok. To run this business, I need to make sure I don't spread myself too thin, and juggling multiple social media pages trying to figure out what to post and where for which audience is exhausting. Maybe someday I can make that work, but right now it's not possible.

Moody's Multiverse will include all the things I like to do- talk about vhs box art, crocheting, metalworking, whatever I feel inspired to make videos about. I have a lot of ideas already. Too many ideas! Output will likely be slow, I'm still figuring out exactly how to structure things, and I'm setting up rituals (in my business plan I call "workflows," "rituals," because it's my business plan, and I do what I want) for running things in a balanced way. I will also go back to work soon since my headache is finally going away. That will really put a dent in my creation time. I'm hoping that even though I will be slow at getting my work out there, I will be consistent and finally have time to actually create rather than get discouraged and frozen by the ever-expanding to-do list. I'm a work in progress.

Anyway, I'm finally making time for my art, and can't wait to show you all what I'm working on. Be sure to like and subscribe over at www.youtube.com/@moodysmultiverse

General housekeeping: My social media profiles are going to be shifting around and combining, so keep an eye out for me announcing new usernames wherever you follow me.