Tools of the Trade

About 17 years ago I was living in Texas with my mom and step-dad, Peter. I was young and in the clouds about life, chasing my heart toward the West Coast in following my heart and then current passion. I don’t remember exactly what I was telling Peter, I am sure it was a litany of plans for what I thought would happen when I left Texas and made my way to New Mexico and onward to whatever. After spewing forth my tempest of ideas, thoughts, desires and wishes, Peter’ ever responds ever so simply: “Well, SOMETHING is gonna happen…” I wish I could insert the sound of his voice into that quote so you could completely get the ultimate zen simplicity with which he delivered this quintessential message that I would return to over and over again in my life.

Peter got involved with my mom when I was around 9 years old, I am sure he didn’t have a clue what he was getting into, the tempest that is the energy of my mom followed by the whirling dervishes that are her children. Something tells me that Peter either knew in some cache of infinite wisdom the power of his catch phrase or this was when he was beginning to discover it. Either way “something happened” for all of us.

One might ask what the hell this has to do with business or business philosophy? Well, everything. How I have interpreted this saying over and over again in life is that it is critical to take some action, to go live life, take care of business and then beyond the simple actions we take all we can do is sit back and see what happens. This is something I have NEVER been good at. I often have a clear idea of what I want to happen so it has often been a struggle for me to sit back and accept what life brings. What I am learning from that phrase these days is that rather than being a period on the end of the sentence that phrase is actually a rolling dialogue: I take some steps, the universe responds, as much as I would like to know what the universes response is going to be (and I often try to pretend to know this) I don’t know, so what there is to do is to respond to what is in front of me.

For example, this weekend my mom and step-dad are in town and I was so looking forward to sharing the Saturday Market with them, after all they have played the largest part in getting this crafty business up and running. They paved the way with their craft business, Flowers in Glass. Their choice to lead a funkier than normal lifestyle and choose work that supports their lifestyle is the source of my inspiration. When I think I am making crazy choices about starting this business or wonder if it will ever amount to putting food on the table I look to their life, take a deep breath and a few steps in the direction of success confident in the knowledge that…”something is going to happen…”

No matter how prepared I might have been to give it a go this weekend I couldn’t control that the Market would be canceled due to major storms passing over. I believe that because of my commitment to practicing principles in this business such as trust, faith, open-mindedness it was so easy to let the cancellation roll off my back and open up space to enjoy their company. I trust that I have done and continue to do the work to create a successful and honorable business so when something happens that I didn’t foresee I can roll with it and enjoy the “something” that shows up.

 

Partnership

The seas are rough this morning! I should probably leave the coffee alone, set aside any reading and meditate my way across the ocean and yet I type. Jared and I are watching our little island home shrink in the distance as we head off in the direction of the mainland. There isn’t much going on in Nantucket in the winter, a major selling point for me especially with Wild Bull just beginning. I have ample time to play in my studio, develop a website, research art shows and other marketing opportunities. I am incredibly grateful for that time, without a business partner or staff, crossing all the “t’s” and dotting all the “i’s” is both my creative and practical responsibility. Anyhoo…we are heading to Beantown for some much needed culture: grab some shows, historic walks, good eats in the North End (I know nothing of Boston and am very excited for Jared to share one of his favorite cities with me).

I had a perfect opportunity yesterday to practice infusing my personal values into the values of this budding business. The top billing value in life these days is SUSTAINABILITY. Not just sustainable earth practices but life practices: not overdoing it, less turning my life into a series of lists to simply be checked off, more savoring things and lingering in the details. This past week I took a job offer working for a hip chic on the island doing landscape design and installation (like it or not, Wild Bull is still on its way to sustaining my life financially and the small sales I have on Etsy are not going to pay the bills). I knew I would have to find something and found myself pickling between the ever promising big bucks of waitressing and finding something that matched my soul a little more. My connection with this woman and appreciation of what she does and how she does it made accepting the job a no-brainer. Immediately, I found myself in a state of worry and control (this is my default setting practiced for many many years)! “How would it all work out? I am going to have to make all my stock TODAY! We can’t go on vacation NOW I have a sales season to prepare for before going to work a full time gig!!”

The thing about my default setting is that…well, quiet frankly IT SUCKS! It’s no way to live a sustainable, savory life. I get all worked up into a controlling frenzy, Wild Bull becomes a job not a joy, I have no room for enjoying life with my partner or making calls to hear about friends and family, the future is damned…you get the drama.

I may not have a business partner in the practical sense but I have a lot of loving partnerships that help me sustain this transition into a more gentler way of doing things (including business). It was in leveraging these relationships yesterday that I found access to peace and sanity…I kept my standing phone date with my therapist, my phone date with my friend in Philly, I made plans to go walking with new friends and in the in-between time I did some work and packed leisurely. Default was telling me I needed to cancel everything so I could make stock in order to justify this vacation that falls just before starting the new job and balancing that with a growing business. “I’ll have to be making jewelry at 2am to make it all work!”

In practicing the value of sustainability I find that trust and faith are the magic ingredient. I mean really, when has my life turned to shit because I missed a list item? How do I KNOW my business will fail if I don’t do everything yesterday?! Welcome to some of the drama in my head. I am so grateful to the people in my life that let me unload that drama, who help me recover a sense of humor and gentleness. These relationships are turning out to be the best and most valuable investment in business development I have come across yet…