So much of my business has been changing and growing.  I've been expanding my wholesale and am in lots of fun galleries and boutiques around the U.S.  It is not only my business that has changed this year.  There has been a lot of growth within myself.  One goal this year was to not slip into a “work trance” and to stay more balanced.  Do you know what I mean by this?  It is so easy since I work from home and have a lot to do to simply work constantly…like all the time.  I made this a habit for years.  I would literally get up in the morning and begin work within half an hour and work non-stop until I would collapse into bed.  Sometimes, this is necessary.  However, I don’t want making books to be my whole life.  I want to be more balanced than that.  Annie Dillard wrote,

“How we live our days is of course how we live our life”. 

I love this.  Making books and filling orders is definitely a large part of my life…but it is not all of me.  I’m learning balance and the continued importance of rest and play and dance and reading and simply being with people.   It has made it all so much more fun, including the “work”.  I’ve even begun to look at “work” as more “play”.  It lightens up the load and the pressure…it lightens me up.  When I feel the stress of deadlines and upcoming shows, I’ve found myself saying “I have all the right problems”.  I am so thankful for continued work and support and creative opportunities.  All of these slight changes in perspective allow me to take deeper breaths and relax into my days so much more.

“Let silence take you to the core of life.”
― Rumi

It is all too easy to get swept away with business and constant going, going, going...especially when you are growing something.  This year, I had a wholesale show in January, February, and will attend one in March.  I am keeping up with orders, but am working long hours and seven days a week.  One of the things that keeps coming to mind is that these are "growing pains".  I am growing and am learning how to push myself to more capacity as well as keep other aspects in my life in some sort of balance.  For me, it is necessary to take a time out now and again.  It is particularly helpful if I can get to the woods and just sit.  Being still and quiet helps me ground and re-center, enabling me to work again with renewed energy.

I found this fortune on one of my hikes in Berea!!  So true!