to me
with enthusiasm,
J
Tag: success
Categories
omg! so happy!
If you’ve read much of this blog, you’ll realize that until 2018 I was a college professor, lost in the whirlwind of conflicting thoughts… I was a complete novice at business, though I took a great course and do know how to sew and design pretty things. But still… even the MBA in a Box (which still sits on my shelf) was intimidating, and I felt like a failure–or completely INSANE to be doing what I do–quite often. And if you’ve ever tried to create anything or start a small business, you’ll also empathize and feel a surge of joy right now, on hearing that I JUST MADE MY FIRST BIG SALE today! The All Star Seattle Quilt (above) sold after just one day on Etsy!
So now, I’m riding on the wind, as I look forward to a wonderful session of T’ai chi, after the exhilarating Water Taxi ride to the waterfront… and it’s not even raining (right now).
All Star Seattle Quilts nos. 2 and 3 are underway and will feature the T-shirts of more local favorites! No. 2 will feature Pegasus Books, Easy Street Records, and Beanfish Tayaki; No. 3 will feature Elliott Bay Books, Easy Street Records, and Communion Restaurant. preorders available now! (6-8 weeks)
On September 26, I announced the search for ten people willing to model a T-shirt for my small business, Honey Girl Books and Gifts LLC, in return for a donation of $100 on their behalf to Fusion Kung-Fu and Movements Arts: a martial arts school that we all love in central Seattle. (That’s our teacher in the cover photo, with a Kung Fu student. The student may be taller than Sifu Michelle Pleasant, but I doubt she is mightier than our teacher.)
Today I’m delighted to announce that we did it!
We made an alternative economy happen.
We invested in this school, our community, because we are aware of the joy and convenience it gives us to learn martial arts, without travelling too far from home. (And we are aware of the high cost of Seattle real estate.) If you’d like to join the effort, please do!
Great thanks to all of those who contributed–I’m sure readers will agree that everyone looks marvelous!
Seattle really is that kind of place. Proud to be born here, to work here, and to have HGBG become a new member of SEATTLE MADE, a network of local artisans and creators who sell products all over town, even at SeaTac Airport. (Wow, what a thrill that would be; maybe one day!)
P.S. Get your own HGBG T-shirt for only $19.95 while supplies last…
Like me, you may feel frazzled some days by 9:38 am. Already today I have discovered a fraudulent charge to my VISA card and had it, albeit grudgingly, expunged by an employee of Chase, and I’ve been told that “all agents” of the Social Security Administration are too busy to explain why I no longer exist, despite working since age 15.
OK, first world problems. I know.
Still, I hate that such petty annoyances have the power to raise my pulse rate and darken my mood. So to calm myself down and help you, dear readers, here’s a little quote from a useful article and some photos from out my window at a pretty scene on Elliott Bay to help remind us of the fleeting nature of … well, everything.
This is from “Smarter Living,” a feature of the New York Times on p. 3. It’s from an article by Anna Goldfarb called “How to be a more patient person”:
“Patience, the ability to keep calm in the face of disappointment, distress or suffering, is worth cultivating. The virtue is associated with a variety of positive health outcomes, such as reducing depression and other negative emotions. If you find yourself getting exasperated often, here are ways to keep those impulses in check.”
She lists three: Number one is “Interrupt the cycle and evaluate the risk” which has great examples: “For example: If standing in a long line drives you crazy, an appropriate mantra might be, ‘I’m in no rush at the moment.’ The idea is to take a step back […] It will soon pass, and, in all likelihood, you’ll forget it ever happened.”
The other two tips are: 2) “Reframe the experience and connect to a larger story.” Which at first glance, may seem almost identical to number 1, except Goldfarb’s example makes things personal and thus powerful: “Take, for example, someone irritated by a nitpicky co-worker. Instead of dwelling on your irritation, you could think about the times you’ve been the one who has frustrated others. ‘Give grace to others’.”
3) “Train, don’t try.” This one incited me to write this blog post. Sometimes if you write down the words, and go public about it, it sticks. (And you feel guilty when you fall short of the ideal). “It’s important to do it habitually,” the researchers say.
Before signing off, here are three positive things that have happened already today:
- The scene out my window created a beautiful image for these thoughts. If you read the images, you’ll see the ferry first seemed to sneak up behind the big ship, then passed behind it, and moved smoothly beyond it, out of reach. Yet as the Zen master would remind us, “it is not gone.” It is merely out of sight, which is irrelevant to the Universe. Our tiny beings and limited perceptions allow us to know so little. (In this case the ferry’s off to the West, chugging along the route to Bremerton or Bainbridge Island. )
- While researching the feature called “Smarter Living” for this post, I discovered an article that echoes my frustration with the Social Security Administration. I’ll try again tomorrow.
- A new order just arrived! Someone requested a “Frankenstein Patchwork Pillow” (model 3, “Happy, happy creature”), bringing the production forces (me) into full swing at Honey Girl Books and Gifts. Thank you, Amaya and Elena, for your orders. It is a delight to create something beautiful for you!
To all you impatient people: Hang in there, everybody, and know that you are not alone. But try to get a handle, ok? 🙂
Look carefully at this picture.
Do you see the words EL DORADO perched on a translucent building across the street?
It is a phantom of the glaring glow behind it, the real building.
That seems like a metaphor for something.
It seems like a metaphor for the meaning of life–a floating symbol of perfection, situated somewhere far away and inaccessible–somewhere that we’ll never get.
If that seems bleak, focus inward instead and consider the things you can alter for the better. As Bob Klein writes, “Whatever you pay a great deal of attention to will become a pivotal point around which your life will revolve.”
He goes on to explain how things affect us from without, such as living with other people, whose lives “begin to revolve around each other” and existing within particular belief systems, where “your behavior begins to revolve around those beliefs.” [As a non-Catholic working at a Catholic school, I can certainly attest to that.]
Bob Klein recommends the pivot-like practice of T’ai Chi. T’ai Chi creates swirls of momentum around your central core, or Tan-tien, like a “biological gyroscope.” It is amazing and you finish by feeling very peppy and centered. See video of Master Peng, in case you missed it.
Whether or not you begin practicing T’ai Chi in 2018, it is good to think about what we spend our attention on, that “pivotal point around which your life will revolve.” I’ll be doing T’ai Chi, for sure, because it is a living metaphor for my goal of peace. I aim for peace and harmony in the family (and in my own head), this year more than ever. If you knew us, you’d realize that is quite a lot! and it’s going pretty well for the first time in a long time, right now. 2018 will see my brothers and I–and our spouses–living in the same region for the first time in 34 years. With one son nearby and the other undecided where he’ll be.
2018 will see a move for our household and a new job, too, for me: from full-time to retired professor and from business nobody to founder and CEO of HGBG!
That’s a lot!
What are you seeing off in the distance in 2018? What do you hope for? Will it be money, like in Reno, Nevada where I took that picture of the El Dorado Hotel? Or do you deserve fame, at last? Or perhaps you’re thinking of living off the grid, and cultivating cyber-invisibility. Whatever it is, hope of some kind would be good. Pass it on, if you’ve got something good!
Way back in September, I remember thinking that this day might be portentous. That was the day I compared the syllabus of the class I was taking with the three I was teaching, and realized that they all ended in the same week, one Tuesday, one Wednesday, and two–including the SPARK class I took at SMC and the “Write YOUR Story” class I teach–on Thursday. That was today. Although I was exhausted last night, after creating the “Sales projection” and final business plan for Honey Girl Books and Gifts, I survived. (btw: homepage below; website pending very soon!)
So anyway, a day heavy with expectation.
And now, the image I chose conveys how I feel.
At this morning’s class, the fifteen participants in the entrepreneurship class, SPARK, presented our “vision boards,” where we visually depicted milestones in our lives and how the class impacted us. I saw acts of bravery, intelligence, and kindness. I learned that people who I’ve become very fond of, as classmates, dreamers, and future businesswomen, have endured awful stuff I’ve never known, as teenage pregnancies and family problems derailed their dreams while they were really young. But now that all the babies are grown up, or almost, these extremely competent women are ready to take on the world! They are SO inspiring and fun to be around.
At the last day party (aka “Gala Celebration and Book Sharing”) of my writing workshop, the kids talked about their stories with phenomenal calm and purpose. I have never seen anything like it, in the five years I’ve been teaching this class. The first boy, Ian, age 10, took the invitation quite seriously. Even when the other kids and even I was getting kind of incredulous and giggling nervously, Ian kept going. He kept going and telling his very detailed story. Time to time, he would smile a little, but keep going. Ian knew what needed to be told and he took the time to tell his story.
From that precedent, every single child spoke with focus, passion, and unflappable poise. What was that, that just happened? Every other year, they were embarrassed and awkward, and rushed through the little presentations so they could open their presents and have cookies sooner. But not today.
We witnessed the spirits of kids (age 8-12) who, when given an invitation, can go deep into their minds and tell you stories of amazing complexity and allegorical meaning. They explained what they like about writing and said things a novelist would surely share, about character and motivation. Their metaphors were fabulous: one spoke of a castle where the staircase is made of stained glass, and everyone’s imaginations are safeguarded from the world. Another told of a pirate ship manned entirely by cats. There were many journeys, a mystery, and a lovely utopia.
And I’m delighted to announce that a fellow SPARK student, Jane Lockhart, of UX Designs, agreed this morning at the SPARK event to co-teach with me “Write YOUR Story” in Spring 2018. We now have two ND student assistants too: Priscilla Quaye and Travon DeLeon! So “Write YOUR Story” will live on, after all, in South Bend!
good karma? shooting stars? divine guidance?
it’s all good.
Rest easy tonight, reader. I know I will! The world seemed to be on a good axis, at least for a little while, today.
Daily Joy with Honey Girl 