It is presently unclear to me how it has been TWENTY DAYS since my last blog post. I have been busy, sure, I am always busy. I have been trying to catch up on a bunch of things and be in several different places at once, yes. But that is not out of the ordinary. It feels as if I have some how been ruffied by my life and woke up three weeks later!
I am so sorry to have disappeared for that long! Thank you so much to those of you who checked on me! (That scene from Bridget Jones where the wild dogs find her in her apartment all alone comes to mind.) I felt so loved and missed and I marveled a little at the blessing of having a community of almost-strangers whose thoughts went to me when they didn't hear my voice. That is such a lovely thing.
The truth is, I guess I needed a break. After the holidays, which were fun (and beautiful…see my favorite shot of our holiday window at Marmalade above), but frankly, a little hectic…we closed up shop and the warehouse for a few days and counted inventory (not my favorite task). We tried to get the shop back in order, prepared for our Katie's maternity leave and got ready to go to the first of several trade shows.
We packed up, flew to Atlanta, polished off the showroom and did the dog and pony for a solid week before flying home and then I spent the rest of the week catching up at Marmalade, filling orders from our fabulous 'Winter clearance sale” (Nice Job! By the way! You guys know how to snag a deal!) and getting ready to host a baby shower for a dear friend (cute details to follow). I am exhilarated by it all, and a little tuckered out. I have decided that the New Year for me actually starts in February.
February is the new January.
With all of this great stuff piling up on my plate, I find myself bracing myself for it a little bit. I get asked a lot: “How do you do it all? Well, obviously, I don't. Sometimes I come to a screeching halt for, oh, 20 days or so.
The truth is, you can't do it all…by yourself. I have been thinking a ton about this, this past year, but really intensely this past month. As I add more to my plate, more beautiful opportunity, exiting possibility, necessities, obligations, wants, have to's, musts…I have called on my friends and family and co-workers and staff more than I ever have in the past. More than maybe I have wanted to. And graciously, and most-often willingly, they have shown up to help make things happen, get things done or pull something off… it really does take a village.
This is something that I plan to meditate on more this year. Spend some gratitude on, and really get right with. I think in this ever-quickening world we live in, one that is filled with possibility, we can find ourselves wanting to do more and more. There is nothing wrong with that. It can be very inspiring and empowering, but it can also be very defeating when we begin to expect ourselves to be able to accomplish all of those things, and do them well. It exhausts me just to think about.
The reality check is that anyone that seems to be 'doing it all' is not doing it by herself. Not even close. Take a moment to look around from time to time, see who you call on, who helps keep all of your balls in the air. When you figure it out, be grateful for them. If you find yourself short on help, enlist some. And, of course, be part of someone else's village too when you can. It makes everything you accomplish together so much richer and more possible.
It is also just a good idea in general. Your village will usually find you before the dogs do.
What have y'all been up to for the last few weeks??! Fill me in!
xoxo
