Stop the Wobble: Make a Decision

Nov 3

Oscillating, wobbling in indecision, being afraid of what people would say if I put myself out their and dared to share a few true tales. I didn't want to piss anyone off, didn’t want to sell anyone out, and didn't want to be sued for sharing my stories.

I had a lot of useless fear.

My greatest heroes lit up by the same book, The Bhagavad Gita.

Fight!

My fight was to write. My gift was to write. My greatest desire was to write.

My damn dharma was to write, dammit.

Learning to believe in myself. Learning to find my voice. Authors are often compared to stand-up comedians--the ballsy individuals who dare to stand on a stage by themselves and entertain a crowd with nothing but their own personalities, histories, style, humor, and presence.

Kelli Schaffter: Who?

Introduction, Mission, Interviews

For those of you here, you probably know me as @kellischaffter.

I have been living life openly on Instagram with a burning secret: I have been a closeted writer for over seventeen years. I own stacks of journals from all stages of my life since age 7, unceasing observations about the world around me. As an English major, I studied advanced Creative Non-Fiction at The Ohio State University with an author I quite looked up to: Lee Martin, a nominee of the Pulitzer Prize.

I have wanted to be an author as long as I can remember; this is my truest, purest dream—what I believe to be my dharma.

It has taken me many, many years to bloom into a young woman capable of believing in myself at long last, trusting that I had the power to really start a small business and really believe in it. To the core, this takes trust.

As I dove into many entrepreneurial endeavors the last eight years of my life, I originally intended to be a sole proprietor with the possibility of expanding into Kelli Schaffter, Inc.

Though I wanted to keep my business identity as simple and straightforward as possible, many brand advisers recommend choosing a business name that is both easy to remember and spell.

Most people that have known me all of my life still do not know how to spell or pronounce my last name: Schaffter. (Imagine an "off" in the middle.)

I also realized that my greatest efforts as an entrepreneur ultimately do not have a whole lot to do with me as an individual anyway. To be a teacher I needed students, teachers to continue to teach me and a community to make this work have meaning.

I am just a collage artist after all, the conduit for sharing and weaving much of the meaningful work of others that has shaped and inspired me throughout my life.

Peace to the People is thus an attempt to be an honest small business, but mostly, a resource for people who may need a boost of positivity or encouragement, a reason to keep on fighting the good fight.

And so I will cap this blurb with a simple response to: who?

I am Kelli Schaffter, taking you along a journey as an author of an authentic small business and project created for the joy of the people, for the peace I hope it may provide to any and all who would like to receive it.

Kelli Schaffter

Kelli Schaffter, Yoga Teacher, Fitness Instructor, Artist, Social Media Manager, Writer