Meet Elsie Gilmore

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elsie Gilmore. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elsie below.

Elsie, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

Stepping away from my computer is the best way to keep my creativity alive. Creativity comes from downtime and from just plain old living. Walking out my door shows me so many things that I want to photograph or write about (or both). Sitting in my apartment or at my computer sometimes (but rarely) exposes me to things that make me want to create.

I also often plan projects for myself that require me to take the time to create. Each of my Substack subscribers, for instance, gets a collaged postcard from me every month. This forces me to sit down and collage at least once per month for a few hours.

This year (2025), I gave myself a project that would help my body and soul. I’ve committed to walking at least a mile every day and then making a photo/text page about it in a special journal I bought. The photos will be printed on a neat thermal printer I use for my collage. I’ll then photograph the pages to show my subscribers each week.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

My activism speaks to my art. Whether it’s collage, writing, fiber arts, or social art, there is almost always a nod to the issues I’m most passionate about. This is especially true of the book I recently published entitled, “How to Find Joy in a Capitalist Hellscape.” This book shows readers how capitalism steals our joy and how we can get it back and fight the systems of oppression in the U.S. (and beyond). Joy is a recurring theme of mine. Joyful people are kinder people, and we need (to be) kinder people. My book is available wherever you buy books (but preferrably from your local bookstore).

I hold a master’s degree in environmental law and policy from Vermont Law School, and I’ve participated in civil disobedience, including getting arrested at the White House in 2011 as part of the Tar Sands Action. Along with being an advocate for environmental protection and basic human rights, I also am a weirdo who talks to and hugs strangers (with their permission, of course).

I began my writing journey when the internet was just a twinkle, and my work includes various personal and professional blogs, a column for the Rutland Herald, participation in several radio shows, and my current weekly Substack publication, Sunday Mornings in Bed.

With a career spanning twenty years as a web developer and the founder of Women With Moxie, a women’s networking company, I’ve worn many hats. Mostly, I’m trying to live an interesting and meaningful life in whatever ways I can.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Ability to learn new things. If you can learn new things, you can be infinitely talented and creative. Be open to learning and improving skills and knowledge. Don’t do something “good enough” when you can do it really well and be proud of that work. Uplevel your skills to uplevel your pay.

2. Resourcefulness. What’s better than knowing everything and having everything? Knowing how to find anything anywhere and persuade others to help you. People are resources… gather good ones around you. Find out how to get things with little money. Find out how to search for things you can’t find. Be bold in asking for what you need.

3. Marketing/design. If you ever want to be self employed, go into marketing or design. Being a web developer has allowed me to build businesses out of nothing that instantly look professional. I don’t think I would have been as successful at anything without it. It’s also a skill you can share, even if you’re not doing it for a living.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

I think many artists will agree that it’s difficult to prioritize your art when it doesn’t pay the bills. I have to give my web design business first priority over my writing and art, which leaves my attention feeling fragmented.

I could spend all week on marketing for my book, but instead it ends up being a few hours. Would that extra time make a difference? It’s hard to tell because art is finicky.

This is the balancing act I do.

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