Welcome spring

For me, it has been about a year long winter. I have struggled to touch the warmth and grace of the sun as well as all the ideas and hopes swirling in my head. I have struggled with some deeply personal work, faced some dragons, and continued the process of letting go. (letting go of a plethora of “stuff” in a plethora of categories.) I have been quiet. I have been introspective. I have been searching.

But there is no magic recipe for success, personal or otherwise, is there?

This is not to say that life has stopped while all this personal development is going on. au contraire, my friends! Between my husband and myself, we have had six surgeries over the last year or so. While none were horrifically serious, they were stressful none the less. My husband had post-op treatments as well. Again, all has ended well and I am grateful.

My business is growing. Again, there seems to be no magic recipe for success. But nine months after quitting my full-time position to follow this dream, I have doubled the gallery’s income and made very positive changes. I have finally started to fall into some sort of regular schedule. While most days it feels like I should have a clone or two to get EVERYTHING done, I am doing okay for a solopreneur. I am grateful for this place.

So why the dramatic opening with a year-long winter?

I suppose I feel the need to be transparent. As humans, we seem to only want to know about the good stuff. We want everyone to be happy, successful, and healthy ALL THE TIME. That just isn’t the way of the journey. Sometimes things are very dark. Sometimes things are scary. Sometimes you downright wonder what on earth you are doing with your life.

I have been in that period of my life for about a year now. At times it has been painful, but I don’t see this as bad. A seed grows in the dark dirt before the sun warms it, inspires it, and assists the bloom. I believe that the bloom is near.

As a small business owner, I have thrown caution to the wind and tried to follow my heart. I do things that do not make good business sense but feel very right to me. I give time, energy, and money away. For me, that IS the right business plan.

However, bills need to be paid, don’t they? The lights, the shopping bags, the rent all need to be paid for and definitely play a part in the decision-making process. I don’t suppose I am stellar in this area. Faith dictates that I really believe that it will all work out, the businesswoman seems to get lost here.

Please put a pin in all of that.

I have offered an opportunity for small business owners for several years now. It’s called, “Marketing Monday”. We gather, discuss a topic I have researched and each participant share ideas for successful marketing. I don’t pretend to be an expert in the arena of marketing, but I do believe that we are stronger together and that was the point of the gathering.

That said, one of the “strategies” I fully believe in, is the idea of “living your fingerprint”. I believe with all that I am when we are authentic, we are successful. This holds true for business, for personal lives, for relationships.

So now… put all that together.

After a VERY difficult week (it is always darkest before the dawn) I have decided to perhaps be a little more dedicated to living my own fingerprint. Simply making that decision feels like SPRING to me. (which is ironic as Rochester where I live got a nice coating of snow last night) I feel like I have been fighting myself with the “I shoulds”, and advice of “you should” and not listening to myself. Not honoring my own heart, my own path.

So. today, a few days late from the calendar, I am declaring Spring on my own personal journey. It is time to fully live MY fingerprint. It is time to stop filling up brain space, journals and sketchpads with ideas and MAKE THEM HAPPEN.

It has been a long cold winter. But it is time to bloom. That my friends is what I intend to do.

with so much love,

Susan