From the Desk of the Author

In writing this introduction, I’m recalling how I’ve introduced myself lately, to new hires and such. And as memory serves, it seems to start with this:

“I have four cats.”

Really, Paige?

Though, this is CoCo. I mean, come on… 😭

I think it comes from realizing that four cats is actually a lot of cats. They are literally everywhere. At night, I try to get the adult ones into the barn so they can do their job of catching mice but then the kittens get out and the adults sprint back and… it’s utter chaos.

I’ve become hyperaware of my camera angle because all four of them plant themselves in my background and groom each other, which becomes incredibly awkward while I’m Microsoft Teams-ing with Fortune 50 executives.

I’m a recovering entrepreneur turned Creative Director, or as one GTM (that’s Go To Market for those who have still saved themselves from the mental glossary that is corporate jargon) advisor dubbed me: the one who comes into the broken thing and fixes it and then moves to the next broken thing.

I will take that title, thank you very much.

I’m a wife. I’ve been married a whole two months at the time of this post. The word still feels weird to say, read and write. I’m hoping that will go away by the time I hit my hundredth post. Let it go on the record that I will not use the word hubby to avoid said discomfort. (No shade! It’s just like stripes: Love them, just not on me.)

My husband and I live on a farm.

We raise chickens and ducks, grow a ton of our own food and are fundamentally aligned in our commitment to homesteading, though I’d say we’re not that crunchy… (and I’m not sure why that caveat got word count in my introduction but… context?)

Anyway, we’re on this ride, toggling between living the dream now every way we can, and setting ourselves up to be livin’ off the land for good.

So those are a few things I have and do, but who am I? Let’s get a little vulnerable.

I’ve got generations of addiction in my family, specifically alcoholism, drug addictions and some gambling thrown in there. Intergenerational trauma is no joke. I often wonder if I place too much emphasis on adverse childhood and adolescent experiences related to the disease that is addiction when I define my identity. It even has a fancy acronym ACOA (adult child of alcoholic).

But honestly, I can’t imagine my Self, like capital S if you wanna be woo woo, without those experiences which, make no mistake, I am still working through in some way every day.

And guess what goes really well with undiagnosed PTSD… In this here final part of my introduction I’m sharing today, I give you... sensitivity! There’s even an acronym for this one too. HSP, highly sensitive person, hello, what’s up. I’m one of those easily over-stimulated individuals, part of the 15-20% of the population (according to Psychology Today) who are high in a personality trait known as sensory-processing sensitivity, AKA wind on my bare skin puts me on edge, bumpy roads, bright lights, bad smells are all likely to immediately reduce my general tolerance, social stimuli rapidly exhaust me, the list goes on but here’s the rub: If you or one of your favorite people in the world are HSP, there’s hope for us, friends.

We’re the ones who naturally situate ourselves at the edge of the herd and tune in for signs of change on the horizon, of danger. We’re the ones lookin’ out. And because of our sensitivity we notice things that go unnoticed by our warrior & gen-pop grass-eating counterparts. So, you know, pros & cons.

All that’s to say, I’m Paige Slaughter.

Creativity is my job, but it's also what makes me, me and if you're reading this—I'm guessing it's part of what makes you, you. The journey to homesteading is a winding one, and you don't have to be surrounding by the cowboys on Yellowstone to be on it.

Trauma and sensitivity have forced a need in my life for serious intention; I hope it helps you in whatever you're working through. Microsoft Teams-ing with Fortune 50 executives was not on my vision board as a metric of success, but I've learned a thing or two about corporate politics, integrity, hustle, burnout and being irreplaceable; if you're an ambitious human, you're in the right place.

This is Desk to Dirt. I'm glad you're here.