🌾⚡🧹 When Creating Becomes Competing

Lately, I've found myself thinking less about craftsmanship and more about the strange little world that exists around it

If you've spent any time on social media, you've probably seen it too

"I was the original"

"Someone copied me"

"They stole my idea"

"Here's why my work is different"

Over and over and OVER again

The longer I create, the more I realize something...

The algorithm loves a good argument 💯

It loves outrage

It loves people picking sides

But I don't think that's what most of us started making things for

I certainly did not

I've also started noticing something else

Marketing has its buzzwords, and social media has developed a few of its own:

✨ Engagement bait - Content designed to provoke comments and reactions because engagement boosts reach

✨ Rage bait - Saying something likely to spark anger because arguments spread faster than agreement

✨ Outrage marketing - Turning controversy into a strategy

✨ Manufactured drama - Keeping conflict alive because conflict attracts attention

Whether it's intentional or simply the way some creators have learned to navigate social media, one thing is hard to ignore:

The algorithm often rewards controversy more than craftsmanship 💯

And that's a little heartbreaking

Because I didn't start making brooms to win arguments

I started making them because I fell in love with the rhythm of it ✨ The smell of broomcorn ✨ The quiet moments in my workshop ✨ The excitement of watching colors come together in ways I hadn't imagined ✨ The history tucked into an old Appalachian craft that has been passed from one pair of hands to the next for generations

None of that has anything to do with proving I'm the loudest voice in the room

There are very few truly new ideas in this world

Artists inspire artists

Craftspeople learn from teachers

Traditions evolve

Every generation adds a stitch, a color, a tool, a different perspective

That's how folk art has survived for centuries!!!

One thing that genuinely made me smile recently was purchasing fractal-burned broom handles

They're beautiful, fascinating, and every single one turns out a little differently

Did I invent fractal burning?

Of course not

I'm not an electrician

I didn't build the equipment

I found talented artisans whose work I genuinely admire, purchased their handles, and incorporated them into my own handmade brooms…with their knowledge and support!

To me, that's exactly how craftsmanship has always worked

Woodworkers buy forged tools from blacksmiths

Potters collaborate with painters

Basket makers learn from weavers

Artists build on the work of other artists while adding their own voice

I'm proud to support other makers, just as I'm grateful for the people who have shared knowledge, encouragement, and inspiration with me along the way

What is original is the heart you bring to your work

No one else has lived your life

No one else has your stories

Your memories

Your mistakes

Your joys

Your reasons for creating

That's the part no one can copy

I've found myself stepping back from the noise lately

Unfollowing accounts that leave me feeling more anxious than inspired / stir up more drama than anything

Choosing to spend more time outside

Dyeing broomcorn

Listening to birds in the morning

Planning new ideas

Writing

Learning

Simply making

Because every minute I spend worrying about what someone else is doing is a minute I'm not creating something that only I can make

I don't want my little corner of the internet to become a courtroom

I want it to be a workshop

A place where people can slow down

Where craftsmanship matters more than controversy

Where curiosity is welcomed

Where it's okay to admire someone else's work without feeling threatened by it

Where giving credit is seen as a strength, not a weakness

Where collaboration is celebrated

Where beautiful work speaks louder than manufactured drama

At the end of the day, I'd rather be remembered for the things I made than the arguments I won

So I'll keep weaving

I'll keep experimenting

I'll keep collaborating

I'll keep supporting fellow makers

And I'll keep finding inspiration in old mountains, quiet mornings, wildflowers, folklore, and the people who invite one of my brooms into their homes

The algorithm can have the outrage

I'll take the workshop

The rest?

It can sweep itself away

🧹💜

✌️ Brooke