Month Four Update

Happy April! I cannot believe we are already in month four. Seriously, where does the time go?

I wanted to give an update since deciding to let go of my Women Empowering Women in November. Since there has been so many questions, I decided to tackle them all here. Do I miss it? I don't. I do miss the people who made up the community, but I don't miss the work of creating events.

It has been a slow but joyous process of unfollowing, unsubscribing, and removing myself from the people and businesses that no longer align with my current path.

What is my current path? I spend a reasonable amount of time assisting my daughter with her property management business and watching and playing with my grandkids. They are growing up so fast. As I get older, I am truly aware of my blessings and being present as much as I can.

I have been spending time getting my house back in order. After spending three years caring for a 3,000-square-foot co-working facility, I haven't had time to play house. So instead, I have been decluttering, organizing, deep cleaning, rearranging, and caring for my plants.

I am looking forward to the spring so I can return to the gardens I have neglected for so long. I can see where leaving my husband to take care of that; I now have certain plants that are no longer coming up or just gone. I already have over 1000 seeds that I will plant inside to get ready to transfer outside. Clive will even build me a couple of raised beds for the vegetables I will be growing.

I have also been spending as much time as possible doing creative journaling and mixed media art. I make sure that I carve out a couple of hours each day doing something creative, and I am having a blast! After being asked to make a few creative journals (junk journals) and mixed media art pieces and having so much excellent feedback, I have decided to start selling my artwork, journals, and junk journal ephemera.

I will sell artwork canvas and boards locally at this time. In addition, I will sell my creative journals, artwork prints, vintage ephemera, and digital ephemera virtually on my website. The launch date for available purchases will be May 1, 2023.

How am I making money? It's a variety of things, such as virtual services. Stuff I do for PINC. I have a few clients for whom I write newsletters; I wrote a couple of grants, policy and procedure updates, and website design and updates.) I also have a couple of dog-sitting and house-sitting gigs at the moment.

My word for 2023 is to redefine, which I do every day. If there is something I don't like, then I don't do it. An example of this is when I started to do an online Unpack Your Stash class on Zoom. The class was all about using your supplies and taking the time to create. I loved doing the class but quickly realized I didn't want to do monthly scheduled events anymore, so I stopped.

I plan on having a few local creative events, and I already have a collaboration event I will announce next week.

How am I staying in touch with the world? I do connect and meet locally with some of the WEW community. But there are still so many women I have yet to schedule with. I post on social media (Facebook and Instagram) as much as possible. I am working on consistently uploading creative videos (planner flip-throughs, she shed updates, plan with me videos, vintage haul videos, and creative journaling tips.)

How is your health? It's okay. HA! I discovered I have a leaky heart valve, which explains so much. I most likely have had it at birth (long story, but I know this is true.) I have ignored the health protocol my naturopathic doctor has recommended (she wouldn't be happy.) So much so that my knee and foot pain has returned. That is my body's telling me I overeat dairy, gluten, and sugar.

What's on my plate for the next couple of months? Making my health a priority, I am speaking for a women's group; I have a collaboration event that will include my artwork. In addition, I am working on becoming certified in Animal First Aid and CPR, getting ready to launch my virtual store on my website, uploading two videos a week on my YouTube channel, and booking my birthday vacation to Sedona.

I love the journey I am on.

Forever grateful.