Happy Sunday morning. I am hoping yours looks a bit like this. Oh to be a very loved chihuahua.
Will, napping soundly beside my daughter.
Just checking in here to send a hug out and share a bit. I do a good bit of sharing on social media and in email blasts and such, but I love sitting here and sharing where I am emotionally. Kind of like stitching a thread that connects me to you.
Let's start with a business update.
The card line is growing. 110 cards and 83 stores and counting. And there are so many possibilities and partnership opportunities ahead. Thank goodness patience is one of my best qualities. I am really clear on how I want to grow and be as a company, so I make each decision carefully. Sometimes I say no to opportunities that look really good because I am looking a few steps or years ahead. I am moving slowly and deliberately. I can only compare this feeling to wearing an old favorite tee shirt; pure comfort and ease when everyone else may be slightly more dressed up for the party.
Personally, I am in a nurturing mode this summer. I am making the time to check in with friends I really care about but have not seen in a while. Saying yes to invites that feel good and showing up for birthday parties. I am sitting in friend's backyards sipping wine and having sweet conversations that stay with me long after I have left.
One of Heather's gardens.
I am just back this morning from a sleepover at my dear friend Heather's house. She moved months ago, but finding the time and space to show up and really see and feel the new life she is building around her has been hard to do as the past few months have been so full. There was lots going on with my family and in my studio. I know she understood. It felt really good to sit on her cozy screened in porch last night under twinkle lights and just talk and then to sit on the same porch this morning with coffee and share more. I could see the honeysuckle vines hanging in the morning. Sitting in this space at night had different gifts.
My cozy guest room bed at Heather's.
My heart is so full for her and her family and all that this move has given them. I miss her so much because I saw her weekly to talk about our creative businesses. It is easier to accept close friends moving away when they are moving forward in beautiful ways.
Speaking of moving forward, both of my children are home (they are 18 and 21) and finding their way in the world.
The process of sitting quietly and watching as they turn left when you know they need to go right has helped me grow too. I have had the honor of seeing them on the other side, when they walk back and find the way all on their own. This is fruit worth waiting for.
Something else fun has been taking my own advice lately. I am doing all the things I gently suggest my children do.
Going to bed earlier. Waking up earlier. Doing yoga. Running and biking on the canal. I purchased some vitamins for my daughter for hair and nails. She hasn't taken them but I am. Good stuff. All of it.
My studio has much of my attention right now. I am cleaning out seven years of making and sending out serendipity boxes across the world. People have purchased a certain size package and sent me a note to say where they are in their heart.
As I am cleaning, I am sending out good energy and lots of love. It is time consuming but very gratifying. The end result will be a special space to teach small workshops. The lovely calm in the very back room of my studio has been a bonus.
A corner of calm in my studio.
I leave for my fourth mission trip with my daughter the first week in July. Me, a group of dedicated adults from a local church, and close to 30 teens go to a village on Grand Bahama Island and build and restore homes. We also make functional art with items that the families do not need or throw out. Of course we play, pray, talk and heal. Crazy how big our hearts can expand. Here is a look at last year. I am excited for the gifts this year will bring.
How is that little stitched thread between you and I going? Do you have a feel for where I am in my heart right now? I hope this note finds you well and rested. If time allows, let me know where you are right now too. xoxox.
With love-Colleen