Ownership and continued growth of a packing and shipping business keep my creative juices flowing. In addition to daily operations, I often ask myself: Should I create new pages for our website? What form of online advertising should I use? Should I start a packing and shipping blog? What will I write about? Which meetings will I attend this month? What will I say in my 30- or 60-second speech? These are all legitimate questions. With the response to each comes a resourceful plan of action. Results? New faces appear in the store.
But what about my vision outside of my business? How do I find – or is that “make” – time for my artwork? How do I bring a similar creative focus to my yarn spinning, knitting, and weaving? It’s a constant battle… sometimes a battle cry. Some of my inspiration comes from Cass Mullane, a business coach and owner of Prosper Creatively. She has a passion for teaching business plans for right-brained people. She has an equal passion for her fiber artwork. And now she’s sharing studio space at Cottonwood Center for the Arts and is the owner of Planet Cass.
With Cass’ lessons in mind, on the July 4th holiday Sunday I awoke with a plan for the day. Note I said “the day.” Baby steps are good. The plan? Exercise, eat breakfast, and wash the three small bags of Merino wool (some in my closet for a year). So I walked, enjoyed eggs and waffles with my husband, and spent the next five hours washing the wool. It worked! Now I’m prepping the wool further for spinning a fine lace-weight yarn.
My list – scan family photos and Dad’s WWII letters, spin yarn, create and knit sons’ sweaters, design small nature tapestries, reupholster chairs in our fifth wheel, finish needlepoint – can be overwhelming when placed on top of what I do for Pak Mail. Perhaps “alongside” with small planned steps is the way to go. I’m still learning.