Recieving money for art.

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This morning I woke up to the message that I had received money from a stranger. 

A bit of background....
JustPickOneUK is a labour of love. I love making the videos and doing the travel in order to get the footage. Unfortunately, the channel isn't big enough yet for YouTube to give me money for it and neither is it big enough for companies to be interested in sponsoring me or gifting me things. While travel companies keep on insisting being paid for their services, the financial burden is currently falling on my family. I'm not working at the moment and so I have a strict budget on how much I can spend on my trips. 

I know I am in an incredibly fortunate position and I don't take that for granted. My 40Before40 adventures have been some of the best experiences I've ever had and I will be forever grateful. 

However, if I am to continue to have more adventures I need to find the money from somewhere. Which is where Ko-Fi comes in. It's a way for creators to have a place that the watchers can leave a tip as a thank you for making the content and support their work, like (but not limited to) a YouTube channel. 

Now, back to this morning...

A notification had popped up because my almost forgotten about Ko-Fi account had been given £10 by someone I didn't know! This person had seen my work and wanted to give me something to show their appreciation. 

Is this what being an artist feels like? Getting monetary compensation for something you've created? 

I had to post about it and now this is a blog post because it feels like a huge achievement. To persuade someone to hand over money not just their time feels like a big deal. 

I will be forever grateful for this time in my life and making videos to hopefully, help, inspire or entertain people is such and joy to do. 

Thank you random stranger for your gift to me. I really appreciate it. 

*Shameless plug alert* Here is my Ko-Fi account if you wish to follow in Mary's footsteps. https://ko-fi.com/justpickoneuk




Until next time 
Xx


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