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One of my besties queried, “What happened to you? You turned 72, and now you are bursting with creativity – a magazine, a blog, and now jewelry! My answer – “I don’t know!” I’m just going with what I feel; at this moment, I feel like flowing in my creativity. I love it! I have a choice, and right now, I buy them DK Beads and string them babies on rubber, wire, or yarn. What?!
Actually, this new venture started with my friend, Pat Kline, who asked that I make her a necklace for her Birthday. I made hers and several more. She died! “Girl, you gotta make more…these are fabulous!” The truth is, while I don’t consider myself as an artisan, I am tremendously flattered by the compliments I receive, and I now have an Etsy store (We’ll see how that goes), but the other truth is I love the energy of the process of creating my designs.
My design process evokes memories of my Ancestors, not just the joy but the pain of the time they lived. I use cotton eyelash yarn, which reminds me of the strife my grandmother endured picking it. From Macon, GA, that same grandmother had no right to drink out of any fountain, stay in the front of the bus, or vote. The gemstones I use represent strength, prosperity, protection, wisdom, beauty, and more, all reflections of Grandmothers/Ancestors. I am not crocheting today, as Grandma Mary taught me, but I am exercising and experiencing “freedom” she never experienced.
Here we are, Grandma; your family is entrepreneurial, creative, educated, and active in righting injustice. We are here, folks from every walk, color, and belief, expressing how we feel about the world in an inclusive magazine. The right to vote remains dubious, with administrations weaving in and out of securing this nation to be inclusive and truly democratic. But, Grandma, you best believe I am voting however I can and doing whatever it takes to ensure the rights of all to cast their ballots. It seems I spend every waking moment behind a computer or stringing a bead, but Grandma, I carve out the time to go listen to a candidate and make some phone calls. I even write out cards, but I’m not fond of canvassing. Oh…and I donate!!!
See? We do what we can. And that’s the whole of honoring our sacred threads, doing what we can. Indeed, I am in my feelings with each creation and with every memory, but now, I envision progressive people taking the country you helped build, Grandma, to higher ground. We celebrate your Labor; now it’s time to reap our harvest.
Video of my Happy Place these days. I ambushed my grandsons’ space in my home and made it a Camp Goldston studio. #smallhome #VBGold#GardenSpices #love
Originally from Chicago, Vicki Goldston, (Victorine), now calls the Shoals area home. She has three children (including a son-in-love), and 3 grandchildren, all of who add texture to the fabric of her life.
Teaching Conscious Living through God Within You, Vicki is the Pastor Emeritus of Living Spirit Church, an Independent New Thought ministry in Florence, AL. Minister Vicki is an Inspirational Speaker; a Contributing Author of a Chicken Soup book, The Miracle of Tithing, by Mark Victor Hansen; and the author of Be S.A.F.E. (Still, Aware, Faithful, and Excellent). She is the CEO of Camp Goldston Publishing, LLC, the founder of Garden Spices Magazine, and blogs through Spicy,,,a garden spices blog by Victorine.
Her slogan is: “It’s all good/God” and Minister Vicki believes “love” has the final word.
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