A Collection with a story — that’s evolved.

Isn’t that the way things go? Things change and evolve, and we constantly need to be on our toes. When I created this collection it centered around making a chosen change. I was planning on quitting my corporate job to take the leap into full time entrepreneurship with this sweet jewelry business. My last day at Costco would have been yesterday, April 29th. Luckily, I didn’t put in my notice, and now it seems it might have been the best choice to wait it out and keep this steady job a bit longer

I can’t describe to you how lucky I feel to be in a position where my uncertainty is so much less than it must be for people who’ve already made the leap to working for themselves full time. And additionally how privileged I feel to not have to worry about my position with Costco as I take an unpaid leave of absence to take care of my child and to take on my new roll as a 6th grade teacher. Best of both worlds.

So here I am, feeling fortunate we hadn’t rushed into a decision that could leave me incredibly fearful, and yet still longing to make that chosen change for my business. For my life. For my family. For me.

I definitely feel robbed. As positive and open as I am trying to be right now, it’s really hard to see how my business will react and pivot to this change. The world seems so uncertain and I can’t seem to find a vision of what my place will be in that. I still want to be a small business owner. I’m thinking about taking on graphic design clients again after closing that part of my business for the most part. I’m thinking about how I just need to take this time to not DO anything, to just BE. On a walk yesterday my 11 year old even helped me dream up how I could have a virtual trade show from my studio for my buyers. ZoomTradeShow, lol. Many good things come from peace and silence. So, I’m going to try and harness this time of slow and see what bubbles up eventually. I’m going to watch the world change and see where my place is in it when the time is right.

I wanted to talk on the meaning behind a few of the pieces in light of how things have changed in terms of my chosen change, but with respect to how much the meaning still so very much applies in this time of forced change.

When I get wrapped up in all the chaos of change and pivoting, I come back to the things that ground me.

My family.

My friends.

My home.

— R

GROUNDED// As I was creating the new collection my thoughts and emotions swirled around how I felt loved and supported in this time of #chosenchange. I’d always been envious of people who had wanted something in their life and chose to make it happen. The opposite, being change that occurred externally or unintentionally and which you needed to adapt to - I’m looking at you Covid-19.

One night over a glass of wine I sat down at the dining room table with my new collection in front of me and a piece of paper. I let a stream of words flow onto the paper which described my feelings, thoughts, emotions, and the presence that I was given from myself and from my loved ones.

I was raised in a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of family. My father let the whims of the breeze take his attention on to the next thing pretty quickly. He was a jack of all trades, and master of none. Finishing before the finish line one too many times. It left me with similar tendencies. - choosing on a whim and never really being grounded. I lived in 23 homes before I bought my first home. I lived in at least 7 different cities before landing in Seattle. Once I moved out of my parents home I found I valued consistency, loyalty and steadfastness more than I ever thought I would. I craved GROUNDING.

Enter future husband. If you ever asked anyone to describe him those words (consistency, loyalty and steadfastness) would most certainly be on the top of everyone's list. In such stark contrast to my own upbringing, he has never left the small town of West Seattle where he was born, including never moving out of the house where he was born until he moved in with me. Our “forever home” is less than 1 mile from his childhood home. If I needed any additional motivation for grounding beyond what my own childhood showed me I got it from my husband Dan.

How is this grounding helping me now? Amid a thousand angles of uncertainty that this pandemic is causing me I have a few things that are keeping me centered, focused and grounded. Dan again rises to the surface just as it did when I was envisioning how I could change my life with this business. When I wanted it quick, he pulled the reins. “Take time to develop a safe plan”, “don’t rush”, he says. He is the essence of moving slow. I can’t tell you how many arguments we’ve been in because I wanted him to just tell me how he was feeling but he had to think for days about it. SO Speculative. I could have strangled him. But how thankful I am, in hindsight, that we pulled the reins and remained grounded instead of flying by the seat of our pants. We make a good pair. I push him, he pulls me the other direction and we somehow meet in the middle. It feels safe and grounded right now. Flying by the seat of our pants is fun, and is a good ability to have. I’m glad I have the ability to be carefree like that. But right now i’m so thankful for this contrast of grounding.

When I get wrapped up in all the chaos of change and pivoting, I come back to the things that ground me.

My family.

My friends.

My home.

These are the things I can care for right now. I’m reminding myself that I am safe here with what I have and I need to go slow and be gentle. It’s ok for right now.