Life Unfiltered: The Honest Truth
About Starting My Website and Etsy Shop
Let me just say this right off the bat: if you’re thinking about starting a website and Etsy shop to make a little money from home, buckle up. This is not your average Pinterest-perfect tutorial. This is the unfiltered, slightly unhinged account of how I jumped into the deep end of the digital world—armed with sarcasm, midlife optimism, and zero chill.
What I Thought It Would Be
In my head, it was simple. I’d buy a cute domain name, click a few magical buttons, make some adorable Canva templates, and boom—I’d be cashing Etsy checks and writing blog posts in my mushroom-covered office, sipping margaritas like some kind of entrepreneurial wizard.
Spoiler alert: that’s not how any of this went.
What It Actually Was
First of all, choosing a domain name nearly broke my brain. Had a list of 30, and hated 29. The one I picked? Still not sure if it’s brilliant or bonkers.
And then came WordPress. Luring me in with its promise of drag-and-drop ease. Lies. Plugins? They sound fun until you have to update 47 of them, and one breaks everything.
The “blog post editor” mocked me with its clean blank space. I spent more time formatting paragraphs than writing. Images? Too big. Then too small. Then blurry. Then disappeared.
SEO? Sounds like a cool indie band, but it’s actually a vortex of anxiety.
And Etsy. Sweet, confusing Etsy. Creating listings took me two hours the first time. Tags, categories, pricing… it’s like setting up a tiny online boutique run entirely by gremlins.
What I’ve Learned So Far
Progress is the goal, not perfection.
Start before you’re ready because you’ll never actually feel ready.
Every “What am I doing?” moment is followed by a “Hey, that wasn’t so bad.”
Tech issues will make you cry, laugh, and maybe threaten your laptop.
But it’s yours. That makes it worth it.
Where I’m At Now
I have blog posts. I have an Etsy shop with some digital stuff that doesn’t suck. I’m not an expert, but I’m doing it.
I created a blog category for this kind of chaos. It’s called Life Unfiltered, because let’s be honest—none of this is polished. But it is real, and if you’re even a little curious about starting a website and Etsy shop, I hope this encourages you to try.
Even if you don’t know what you’re doing. Especially if you don’t.
Check out Digitally Distracted if you want to see what tools I’m using and how I’m learning as I go.
Peek inside my very real, very humble Etsy shop and see where it all started.
Final Thought
Starting a website and Etsy shop isn’t just about money. It’s about building something that’s yours. Even if it’s messy. Even if it’s weird. Even if your only real skills are sarcasm, typing fast, and being excellent with Excel.
Which, honestly, might be enough.