Blame Valentine’s Day - but love is on my mind.
Specifically who and what I love and the time devoted to them.
I guess this falls under the prioritizing I have been doing since our little fire last August. I had to make a decision about nearly every item in every room. If I didn’t love it or need it- I wanted to get rid of it. I found out I didn’t love as many of my things as I thought I did.
This got me thinking about what I really love in life. For example, I love to create. I love
sketching ideas for new pieces, hitting my studio and making it happen. – I really love just experimenting with different colors and texture combinations. I would be embarrassed to tell you how long it has been since I have spent time doing any of that.
I think a lot of artist struggle to find balance between activities that feed the family and those that feed the soul.
So what monopolizes all of my time? My job; something I use to love. Something I
don’t really love anymore. It wouldn’t be practical to quit my job and concentrate on art. Still, if I have to work and work isn’t what I love – I either have to spend less time doing it – or find something that I can love.
My job is helping run our glass company. I have really devoted the past 11 years to it full time. It was great in the beginning. I would visit customers, potential clients, market and network. It appealed to my social and creative side. I really loved being a crucial part of building a solid future with my husband. The flexible schedule was pretty nice too.
As time went on, I spent more time in the minutia of running a business and less on the things I enjoyed. Gone was the flexible schedule or any real separation between work and home life. Still, I was happy to have an income and accepted the not- so -fun side as paying dues.
Specifically who and what I love and the time devoted to them.
I guess this falls under the prioritizing I have been doing since our little fire last August. I had to make a decision about nearly every item in every room. If I didn’t love it or need it- I wanted to get rid of it. I found out I didn’t love as many of my things as I thought I did.
This got me thinking about what I really love in life. For example, I love to create. I love
sketching ideas for new pieces, hitting my studio and making it happen. – I really love just experimenting with different colors and texture combinations. I would be embarrassed to tell you how long it has been since I have spent time doing any of that.
I think a lot of artist struggle to find balance between activities that feed the family and those that feed the soul.
So what monopolizes all of my time? My job; something I use to love. Something I
don’t really love anymore. It wouldn’t be practical to quit my job and concentrate on art. Still, if I have to work and work isn’t what I love – I either have to spend less time doing it – or find something that I can love.
My job is helping run our glass company. I have really devoted the past 11 years to it full time. It was great in the beginning. I would visit customers, potential clients, market and network. It appealed to my social and creative side. I really loved being a crucial part of building a solid future with my husband. The flexible schedule was pretty nice too.
As time went on, I spent more time in the minutia of running a business and less on the things I enjoyed. Gone was the flexible schedule or any real separation between work and home life. Still, I was happy to have an income and accepted the not- so -fun side as paying dues.
Last fall my husband took a leave of absence for health
reasons. It was so good for him that he decided to make it permanent. Turns out he had lost some of the love he once had for the business too. Of course this change piled a few more things onto my plate. Goodbye free time and sanity, hello creative slump.
reasons. It was so good for him that he decided to make it permanent. Turns out he had lost some of the love he once had for the business too. Of course this change piled a few more things onto my plate. Goodbye free time and sanity, hello creative slump.
After about a month without him at the shop it dawned on me that what I really loved about our business was my husband.
I enjoyed working toward something with him, seeing him during the day, watching him make decisions and problem -solve like only he can.
Not everyone can work with their spouse. It wasn’t perfect but we made a good team and I miss working with him. With him home, one more thing I loved about work is gone.
Well this is sounding like a fairly sad Valentine’s Day story! It really isn’t. I think it could be the beginning of a whole new love story. Change is on the horizon. I’m excited to see where it leads.
So spend today with someone you love and don’t forget to spend time doing something you love. Well, I’ll just leave it at that….
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Love,
green janie
I enjoyed working toward something with him, seeing him during the day, watching him make decisions and problem -solve like only he can.
Not everyone can work with their spouse. It wasn’t perfect but we made a good team and I miss working with him. With him home, one more thing I loved about work is gone.
Well this is sounding like a fairly sad Valentine’s Day story! It really isn’t. I think it could be the beginning of a whole new love story. Change is on the horizon. I’m excited to see where it leads.
So spend today with someone you love and don’t forget to spend time doing something you love. Well, I’ll just leave it at that….
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Love,
green janie
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