Taming the Tangle

Message for the day: you can't go it alone

Have you ever had one of those days where you get the same message repeated to you in various forms? Well, by the end of yesterday I was saying "Okay! I get it!" and my mind was shutting down from all the information processing... needless to say it was a very good sleep.

It started early in the morning with a call from a friend to go for a walk followed by a birthday breakfast for one of her friends at a local restaurant. We walked and talked and got our day off to a lovely start. We both admired the idea behind the breakfast: her friend simply posted on facebook and made a few calls around to let people know she would be at the restaurant and would love it if anyone who wanted would just show up, wish her a happy birthday, and enjoy breakfast. She knew what she wanted, asked for it, and got it! It was such a wonderful opportunity for an interesting cross section of her friends to meet as well... there was so much wonderful networking and storytelling.

That was when the message started for me... it was there under the surface all along in various conversations, yet when Reinette (a friend of the birthday girl's and our town mayor actually) mentioned the time when she did the Iditarod alone (yes! I can't wait to hear about this story at her performance on Saturday night)... well, she said she was just recently enlightened to the idea that she wasn't alone at all. She couldn't have finished the race without all the help of the villages and villagers along the way who taught her skills and helped her achieve her goal.

This struck a cord with me because that's the way I have felt about my life and especially my business. There are so many people who help me and have helped me along the way in various forms. After breakfast I received an email from a fellow jeweler who is thinking of hiring some helpers. I gave her some pointers from a business perspective, but definitely encouraged her to do it. I'm not always sure why our American culture wants to put so much emphasis on doing things alone or being the best or trying to do it all. I'm a huge fan of teamwork or delegation and being proud of it. That's why my website isn't just about me (I am in the phases of simplifying it for various reasons, but I still acknowledge other people who help me on the In the Studio section of my website.

The rest of my day was filled with business errands and various emails. I was surprisingly exhausted from the early part of the day yet knew I needed to keep my energy up for the evening event at the APPLE Center where See Jane Do was hosting an event. Eleven women stood up for 5 minutes each speaking about the projects they are involved in, mostly based around food, the environment, gardening, and community. It was a powerful night, and each speaker acknowledged that she was merely a leader who brought other people together (actually, most of them didn't even feel like leaders since they were all deeply involved workers in their projects). There were no loners in this group, and each person made an appeal for volunteers and thanked the community for its various forms of support and encouraged everyone to get involved on some level.

Soon after I had to head home just to crash, but first a phone call to a friend who reached out in a time of needing an ear. To wind down I crawled into bed and finished the book "When Everything Changes, Change Everything" which ends of the note of "you can't do it alone," and why do that to yourself. Sometimes to not be alone you have to be the one who reaches out (and don't we all want people to reach out to us and know just when we need to hear something? well, people aren't mind readers, and to get what you want you have to go for what you want). The writer (Neale Donald Walsh) clarifies that solitude and meditation are different from being alone. Often times to be alone is an effort where you are shutting yourself off. When you have gratitude and appreciation and understanding of what your soul needs, you will not be alone.

That's hardly the message of the whole book... it's very interesting if you need more control in your life based around changes that are happening to you (it turns out you are making them happen!) or simply to change your perspective on all the change and turmoil happening in the world. The end kept emphasizing the "not alone" message, though, which was just interesting based on the events of the day.

Photos from fairy land

Here are just a few more pics I took around here, of my fairy cottage and studio cottage... wanted to grab them before all the leaves are down. Pruning season is coming up, so I'm hoping to get a few areas around my cottage looking a little neater when the time comes. I posted these pics on facebook, too, if you want to link up with me there for shorter tidbit updates (please write me a message letting me know how you found me, thanks!).

 

the side view of my cottage

 

the backyard hammock

 

the tree I park under

 

greetings at my front gate

 

before you get to my front gate... lots of crazy bushes

 

my front yard is very shady... perfect for art

 

my studio cottage, just a stroll through the garden and the pine forest

Waking up

This week all of a sudden I woke up. My mind has started really processing that I'm really in a new place with a radically different life. For the past few weeks I've been feeling sluggish and tired, but now I'm starting to get some energy back. I was feeling a little lonely, too... I'm not used to just making plans with myself (well, I do have a sweetheart but those new things are hard too). Suddenly I'm excited about the me time, though. There is something freeing about it, and I'm feeling more in control. Part of this is feeling more in control of my time since I'm not traveling so much, and in control of my space since it's just me. I'm wanting to create more and I'm gaining confidence to explore and reach out more. I feel like I'm coming out of hibernation just as winter is starting. Can't remember if I've posted this before... here's my road and the street sign nailed to a tree. Can't describe just how much I love seeing this everyday. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Playing hookey

One of the best things about owning your own business is setting your own hours. In general this means working late at night in front of the TV or answering calls on your cell phone even on a day off, but what it means for me today (after all the essentials were totally done) is sitting in the park and reading. Catching some warm sun on a pristine fall day. I peeked at the forecast and noticed that today is considerably warmer than the days ahead, so I'm taking a few hours to enjoy and won't resent working on the weekend as a tradeoff. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Home

Made it home Monday night and am excited to say I will be here for a while. I'm still quite tired from the trip, but made it to the store yesterday so I could wake up this morning and enjoy coffee in the newest addition to my artist mug collection (from Plaza). I will try to track down the artist's name... he didn't give me a card! That is a crucial thing to do for all you artists out there. The ceramic drip coffee maker is from a cute coffee shop in Ann Arbor (my cottage warming gift to myself in addition to my dishes), and the tea kettle is a fantastic cottage warming gift from Kelli, who made the drive West with me to help me get settled. Wonderful memories of shows + friends to make me feel at home and get the day started. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The After Burn

For me one of the biggest challenges of going to Burningman has been trying to explain it to everyone upon my return. Some of the biggest impressions were very simple things, like the idea that no one is on the phone. No one. People are in the present. They smile and look at you and say hi. Most people really don’t have a time schedule. If you feel like doing something, you can just do it whenever you want. You can really be on your own time in Black Rock City. And, if you are on your way to something (for there are scheduled events afterall), you might cross paths with someone yelling “vodka sno cones!”… and then you have to reconnect with that part of yourself that evaluates what you “should” be doing versus what you could or want to be doing, that spontaneous part of you that you’ve lost touch with, that part that hesitates and wants to think things through, the part that wonders what other people will think… and to answer your questions, hell, yes, I stopped for a vodka sno cone! I mean, how many times is that gonna happen in my life?… who cares that it’s only 1pm? It’s over 100 degrees and it just sounds perfect. So I banged a u-turn on my bike and promptly forgot where I was going and decided to be in the now and experience what was there in front of me.

This is also why I didn’t take any pictures at Burningman. Ok, I took 3 photos because I doubt I’ll see my 6’5” boyfriend wearing pink panties and a purple tutu again, and one never knows when blackmail may be in order. I opted to be in the moment by being an active participant rather than a documentarian or an outsider capturing images. But, man, the photos people take are stunning. The landscape, culture, people, art, structures… everything is a photo opportunity. Photos would certainly help to capture stories or at least prompt the remembrance of them. The week does end up being a blur. Several nights I stayed up until 5am because the night is so dramatic there with the brilliant stars, full moon, fire dancers, laser lights, techno dance halls, glow stick costumes, elaborate ensembles. The days are certainly more mellow, but they provide more opportunity for connecting with people one on one. When I go back – and, yes! I really want to – I’ll be able to have a more balanced approach to the visuals I think.

One of the main reasons I want to go back is to be more of an active community member. This year I felt like a citizen of Black Rock City. I brought apples from my garden to share with neighbors and wanderers, gave beers to passersby, and made Ear Buds (floral ear plugs) to give as gifts to various people who helped with costuming, shared a personal story, gave me tea and food, or complemented my rusty dance moves. It would be even more fun to have an activity or attraction or theme camp that brought people over. I don’t want to get too adventurous because going out and exploring is half the fun, but creating a space that attracts and invites others in would just enhance that connected feeling and being more of a community participant while adding to others’ experiences and stories as well.

There are so many great places to learn more about Burningman, especially the main website. I also thought this Time Magazine interview with the founder was great http://bit.ly/tUSl4 as well as this article from The Huffington Post http://bit.ly/2loxTu . Enjoy, and let me know your thoughts!

ps- The photo at the top was taken by my friend Peter (aka Palesun) and shows me (aka Saffron) and Sky (aka Skyzer) after wandering around pretty much lost in a dust storm out in the middle of the playa for at least an hour... that time was all in all one of my absolute favorite memories from the trip! We couldn't see anything except for each other, maybe a 10 foot radius, not even the moon... and yet we could hear all the music and art cars all over the place and every once in a while someone would cross our paths and we were all always so happy to see another soul yet the solitude was profound.

A new line of jewelry?

I am a mere few hours from leaving for Burningman, and during the final countdown here I am putting together my bartering gift... earplugs! But no ordinary earplug will do... why not have flowers growing out of your ears? Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Happy orchids

When leaving Chicago, I decided to travel with my 5 orchids... unsure if they would even make it past agriculture controls. The good news is that they did! The bad news is that I neglected them for a week and they got a bit too much sun. While they are in agony and adapting, I finally repotted them, which I've been putting off for months. They are all indoors now mostly in Southern-facing windows, which seem to be their favorite. This one beauty gets the star spot, though... it retained blooms and has more shoots coming. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

1 week anniversary

Last Saturday at this time I was in a daze of unloading a 16' moving truck into my new home. Right now I'm sitting on a bench under an apple tree outside my front door. Unpacking and settling will take a while, yet my little cottage already feels like home. I'll be trying to blog much more regularly, but you may also want to follow me on twitter and facebook for regular highlights of frog infestations and climbing injuries... signs of my new non-urban life. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

2 weeks to moving

Today marks the 2-week mark to my big moving day. Over the weekend at my Careful Peach trunk show, I talked to several customers and realized I've been quiet on my blog of late so now need to catch up on sharing what's been going on in-depth (I'll do this over time). Lately I've been opting to post to Facebook or Twitter for the quick tidbit-style updates, so feel free to find me in either of those places if you want more regular updates. These are more indicative of my mental state as well... it's been hard to find focus in my life of late, but I am making motions to slow things down and calm the inner flurry.

At the beginning of July I was in Nevada City, California once again and sealed the deal on renting an adorable little cottage nestled in a garden (I'll have to post pics once I move... didn't have time to get any on that visit!). It's a country setting but just a few short minutes outside of town.

Over the past several months I've been grappling with the idea of moving. I worked on getting to know myself a bit (this too will take more time) and figuring out what I want from my everyday life. At the beginning of the year my list started to look something like this:

-live someplace where I can see the stars
-be within 90 minutes of an international airport (60 would be better)
-live within easy access of all sorts of outdoorsy activities I enjoy (rock climbing, hiking, kayaking, biking, snow boarding, etc.)
-live somewhere with an active artist community

I really thought I would end up in Oregon, somewhere outside of Portland. I wandered around the Pacific Northwest visiting artist friends & making new friends from various art fair contacts. Everyone was so generous with their time, opening their homes and studios... sharing their stories of how they landed in their spots. It is hard to get a sense of community, though, on these little visits... but every time I swung back through Nevada City I would meet someone new, go to interesting fundraisers, make exciting connections, and fall just a little more in love with the mountains and pine trees that remind me so much of the two places I grew up in (Maine + North Carolina). Finally I got over whatever preconceived notion I had in my head about being specifically in the Pacific Northwest and have decided to make the move to the tiny gold mining town that has captured my heart.

But suddenly the idea of a move has turned into an actual move! Everything has fallen into place, and it feels so quick now. But this is the perfect window for me to relocate my studio... after Ann Arbor State Street (booth #243 on N. University if you are there!) I don't have another retail art fair until Kansas City Plaza in late September. I will be at NYIGF in mid-August, but wholesale shows are little easier for me to digest.

That's the beginning of an update from me... I have many more ideas from customers & blog readers that I will get around to in the coming weeks. Let me know if there's anything *you* want to hear about!