Art Moment: PillJoy workshop

Put down a finger if you take pills daily. 

Put down a finger if you sometimes forget to take those pills. 

Put down a finger if typical pill sorters remind you of hospital stays, your grandmother's kitchen counter, or the florescent lighting of a CVS. 

Put down a finger if you like fun things. 

Now throw that thumb towards the sky because I have some good news for you today in this Art Moment update!

This month, I attended a workshop with Thredd, the creator of Pill Joy. Pill Joy sells cute, fun, colorful, magical, spooky-if-you're-into-that pill organizers they've made by hand. And when I tell you they are game changing... I mean, just look at them.

These pill organizers start off as the basic ones you're used to but Thredd figured out how to get things to stick to their plastic exteriors. They experimented with all types of mediums before figuring out what works to adhere all kinds of "toppings" to the little compartments. 

Thredd started making these organizers for friends but then the business took off as more and more people wanted to brighten up this neglected corner of our healthcare. 

If you want to know more about Thredd's story of Pill Joy, check out this news segment they were recently featured on. 

This month, Thredd offered their first in-person workshop where they took a small group of us through the whole process of decorating our own pill organizers from boring to absolutely joyful. I was lucky enough to snag a seat since I've been following Pill Joy on instagram for a while now. 

I didn't take a single picture while I was there because I was so busy being present in the learning and sharing space Thredd created that night at Fat Fancy. But someone was taking pictures! And you can see me in some of the shots Thredd shared on their instagram of the event. 

But since these Art Moments posts are all about me being inspired by someone else to create more art, let me show you the pill organizer I made with Thredd's help in the workshop. I'm calling it the Unicorn Convention. 

Given the opportunity to select from Thredd's amazing collection of toppings, I went full Lisa Frank and chose rainbows, unicorns, sprinkles, and of course glitter.  And let me tell you, I am obsessed with this pill organizer. Who wouldn't want to attend this party???

Getting to meet and work with Thredd, a fellow queer, disabled maker, has inspired me to look around at my daily habits and see what else could use some joy. If I've been overlooking my pill organizer this long, what else am I not seeing the potential in? 

I'm going to keep thinking on this challenge rather than forcing an answer right away. For now, I'm just going to be grateful for Thredd's creativity in thinking this up and generosity in sharing it with us. Each time I smile at my pill organizer (seriously, who thought I'd be doing that ever), I'll try to remember that joy can be infused in the little, necessary, every day things too.