I was recently contacted by a rug company to write some content for their blog. This was a new and interesting experience for me. I wasn’t the most knowledgeable on area rugs, but I did some research when they reached out to me and learned what I could. This was definitely a different style of writing too. Writing for a company like this is very different from my previous work because it is more about educational writing with a slight tinge of marketing.
However, if you do get approached by a company to write for their blog, I would recommend that you don’t immediately scoff at the idea because it is not creative or as exciting as working on your own projects. It can provide a stable source of income while you work on your own projects and if you just take on one company then it isn’t that too much work. It can provide a lot of freedom and flexibility to work on becoming a professional writer while paying your bills.
Learning the History of Southwestern and Native American Rugs
Also, through the process, you learn a lot of information that you most likely wouldn’t have come across in your normal life. I learned all about the history of Southwestern rugs and their relationship with the Native American tribes of the American Southwest. It is actually quite fascinating and quite the history reminder. Southwestern rugs come from the art, culture, and life of the Native American tribes that lived in the area. During the days of early colonization, crafting, intricate, handmade rugs was one of the ways that the Native American tribes supported their livelihood. Southwestern Native American rugs were a prized commodity that people from all over the world would crave and many would travel to the American Southwest to purchase.
Even though most Native American rugs are no longer crafted by hand, the artistic attention to detail and the reverence for the art form remains in today’s area rug expressions. I recommend diving a bit into the history of the Native American people if you have the smallest bit of curiosity. It is endlessly fascinating and often extremely inspiring when you learn more about their struggle, art, culture, customs, and just their general life philosophy. I believe we can all benefit from expanding our locus of where we get our information from. Divine inspiration can come from anywhere and often I find that through learning something completely unrelated, it can trigger a train of thoughts that lead to a breakthrough in my own creative project.