Welcome to 2019! How have you started the new year?
Over here at the House of Three Ravens, we have been working hard to get some focus, re-organize, simplify, and pass along the things we no longer need or use. It’s been a multi-day labor! Besides the Great Basement Construction of 2018 that I’ve talked about previously, Mom and I also tackled the kitchen, which hadn’t been reorganized in oh, a couple of years? We got rid of FOUR BOXES of donation-worthy kitchen things, recycled a lot more, and made So! Much! Space!
We also managed to clear out even more things from our closets [not so much from me, as I’m already pretty pared down, but there were a few lingering items] and around the rest of the house. In general, we are starting 2019 much lighter and tighter, and it feels great!
This is a view of my desk in my room. The desk functions as a workspace, staging area, storage, and occasional dumping ground. I’m trying very hard to get over that last habit, because it’s really difficult to work at a desk that’s covered with junk!
I like this photo of my desk, though, because it really encompasses as lot of who I am and what gets me going. You can see some of my current works – a bigger version of my Earth vessel, the beginnings of an Air sculpture in mock-up form; one of my Travelers Notebooks is there, a new one that has notes on herbs, crystals, tarot, meditations. All my work notebooks and small weaving supplies are in the cubes. You can also see the cute light-up mini marquee sign I got for my table at craft shows, and a couple of Funko Pops – Loki and Hela, and Death from the Sandman comics. I think Hela is falling over again, that headdress is pretty heavy despite the size of her head!
Here’s a few more glimpses around – I keep things that inspire me or tickle my fancy hanging on a ribbon “clothesline” on one wall, and I have plenty of whimsical toys and collectibles without feeling overwhelmed by too much clutter. You can also see my altar/meditation space and some more weavings hanging around. My style is “eclecticly decorative” at best!
I find that taking the last week of the year at it passes away, and the first week of the year coming in, and using them to get it together really helps me get a great start to the rest of the year. You clear away stagnant energy, habits, and thoughts, which makes room for positive changes to happen.
Some of the positive changes that are happening in the House of Three Ravens include adding some new things and narrowing my focus on things I already pursue in order to be more effective.
I made a breakdown list of what I want to focus on in 2019. It’s a really great, visual way to lay out the important things and rank them. I have four sections: TEACH, MAKE TO SELL, COMMUNITY, ART.
Teaching and Making things are how I make money. They are the most important for my bottom line.
Community and Art are how I feed my soul. They are the most important for my heart and sanity.
It’s not easy to cull things from the lists! I know that making certain things doesn’t always bring me joy, and those are the things I’d prefer to cut – but balancing happiness with financial gain is always difficult. In a perfect world, I would love to teach the most and make fiber and yarn to sell as I’m inspired, not just to fill my shop. That would help me love what I’m doing, rather than feeling like I’m part of a production line. So I know my big focus of the money-making side is to get more teaching gigs, to develop more classes and more ways to reach folks.
That allows me to also put more of my creative energy into making the art I’m dreaming about! Art suffers when it has to come in second to paying bills. Everything improves if I’m able to take time to create just for the joy of it.
Community is built through teaching, creating, and most importantly, sharing. That’s actually the natural outcome of putting the first three list items together, and bringing YOU into the process. My goal is to share MORE, because sharing lifts us all up and actually brings me closer to my other goals, too.
I have a few Community-building ideas sitting on a back burner right now, and they’re not quite ready to share with everyone yet – but this one is, and I hope that you’ll join me in helping it take off. That’s my plan to Go Live on a regular basis and let you into my brain, in a way: to watch me create things, to show you how I structure my day and work, to talk about business and making and keeping focused, and really anything related to my life as a fiber artist and small businessperson that you might want to watch me talk about.
This is where YOU come in! Right now, I’m planning on using Facebook Live as my format, but that can change as needed or requested. I also have some topics ready, but I want to know what YOU want to learn from me. I have a form set up to capture your thoughts, and I would be so thrilled if you would take a moment to fill it out. There’s also the option to sign up for the Go Live Hotline, where you can get emails before I go live, to let you know and tune in, or check in later to watch at your own leisure.
https://goo.gl/forms/fzGIrea7IIKzJa6e2
I am very excited about these possibilities! I will be chatting more about my future classes and my ideas about other classes I could be teaching in an upcoming Live session… I need to come up with a name for these, don’t I? Hmmm. You could comment with suggestions for that, too! 😉
So what are YOU doing to get 2019 off to a great start? Hit up the comments and let me know!
OH YEAH. So… how many of y’all do the Word of the Year? Here’s mine, and I think it’s POWERFUL.
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