Making Time...

Most mornings, I feel like a crazy chicken. In between the "Eat-your-breakfast's" and "Hurry!-The-bus-is-coming!'s", I don't really have time to wake up properly and consider the day ahead. It doesn't help that I am the exact opposite of a morning person and better left alone until my second cup of coffee is in my hand.

During the holiday season when I was at my busiest, I gave myself an extra hour or two to work on orders and wake up way before the regularly scheduled morning insanity began. It was hard at first, but then I realized that I really needed that quiet time to allow my thoughts to unfold naturally, instead of abruptly slamming the door on them while making breakfasts, preparing lunches, and hustling people out the door. My day got off to a much better start, and I was not rushed, nor did I rush my kids or become exasperated with my husband (who is very much a morning person). Taking the time to welcome the morning more slowly (and alone), made me 100% nicer to be around.

After Christmas break I decided to stick to my early morning schedule and use that extra hour to take Rock for a walk. We walk down into the center of our little town, taking a route we have taken many times before, but never before the town is awake.

Being alone is something I had taken for granted until we started a family, and then that liberating sensation of having time to myself was a distant memory for several years. The girls are older now and I can spare an hour of sleep a few nights a week. Taking the dog for a 3-mile walk sounds like a silly, simple thing, maybe even a chore, but that quiet time alone helps to feed my soul. When I return home I feel like a new person and I greet my family with the love they deserve. My whole day is better. I am more patient. I can tackle new designs with additional clarity and enthusiasm. I have more fun with my kids. What it boils down to is this: If I make the time to take better care of myself, then I will be a better woman, mother, wife, daughter, friend, etc.

Duh.

It's a simple, semmingly obvious concept, but I had become stuck in a rut, dragging myself through every day by the collar of my pajamas. It wasn't until I opened my shop that I started to un-stick myself and realize that I have the power to wrap my hands around my life and make it what I want it to be. Towards the end of 2010 I really started to get it together, and now I can't wait to see what lies ahead in 2011.

Less talking. More doing.

More living. Less worrying.


Every morning as I head back to my home the sun rises, lifting the curtain between.

Now is the time.

This is the year.

Let us begin.