Setting intentions, doing the hard work and letting go

So you may remember about a month ago I had a mini meltdown.  A confidence crisis.  A pity party.

And in melodramatic fashion, I featured a bunch of photos in that post of old, rustic doors to symbolize all the doors I felt closing.

And I almost made a cliched reference about keeping hope that “when one door closes, another opens” but I was feeling too raw at the moment.  Though wanting to keep hope, the sting of disappointment was preventing me from being overly cheerful.

But…the funny thing is that while I thought those doors were shutting on me, many more were in fact opening up in ways that I could never have anticipated.  And no one could have been more surprised than me.

While I initially thought my showing at the Atlanta Gift show was mediocre and that I was not cut out for licensing, I later learned that quite the contrary was true; my work was actually well received and several companies have since shown interest in my artwork.  Huh?  (this is why I wrote that post later that week about not making big decisions under emotional duress!)

And the many leads that ran dry on me previously have circled back into several new wholesale accounts in the past 2 weeks which means more of my work will be out in little shops and boutiques.

And then a TV personality whose shows I even DVR’d (squee!) has asked me to create artwork for her new product line.  Me?!  Really??

Where did this all come from when things seemed so bleak just weeks earlier? I asked myself.  I know intuitively that it’s from sending my intentions out to the universe, working hard and finally letting go.

I’m feeling overwhelmingly grateful (and a little embarrassed at my lack of faith and discouragement previously).  I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons during this process.  Running your own business and being 100% responsible for your success or failure is hard work and a vulnerable place to be.  And with that comes high highs and low lows.

Setting intentions and offering up gratitude is a daily practice for me, like prayer and meditation is for others.  It requires repetition, discipline and faith.  But it translates into abundance if you believe that your goals are attainable and you work at reaching them.

But equally important is releasing it to the universe.  I’ve found that when I wish and hope for something too strongly and obsess about it, it just won’t happen as if to teach me a lesson in patience and faith.  It’s only when I send out my intentions, work calmly towards it and release it to the universe that it comes to fruition.

And in retrospect, I can see how this all happened.  I set my intentions, worked hard at my goals and then obsessed.  When I got too discouraged and my self-confidence began to weaken, I freaked out.  I thought I’d walk away from all the grand dreams I’d been working towards, lick my wounds and lower my expectations.  But the next day, after calming down, I found an incredible sense of peace and I…just. let. go. 

Whatever’s meant to be is meant to be I told myself.

And once I let go, once I found peace and contentment with where I was (and not where I had wanted to be), the abundance began pouring in.  What a powerful lesson.

Feeling incredibly grateful not only for the abundance but to have learned so many valuable life lessons in a short amount of time. ♥

Read Full Post »

It’s all a matter of perspective…

Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.  ~Author Unknown

Tuesday morning had a disappointing start.

First, my laptop that I use for business/personal use died.  It had been showing signs for a while and we knew it was on its last leg.  It was originally my husband’s (who is an IT guy by trade) and was a hand-down to me when my previous laptop died (when I accidentally spilled my mug of tea on it, also a hand-me down).

We had the most recent laptop since 2006 and it had been rebuilt several times, had it’s keyboard replaced and even was on its third AC adapter.  The bezel on the LCD display was cracked and the on/off button was broken requiring a certain touch at a particular angle to power it on.

Clearly it had seen better days, but it worked.  And I, not being one for the latest electronic gadget or update, was content with working on that thing until its last breath.

Unfortunately it’s last breath came prematurely (at least in my opinion!) just when I had sworn off making any purchases that weren’t absolutely critical to running my business.  And well, a computer is crucial to running an online business, so money needed to be spent.

It happened to be our day off for the week, when we run errands “down the hill” and although I would have loved to research/find/purchase another used laptop, I frankly couldn’t afford to wait.  And it was time – my husband told me – to get a new one, with a high amount of memory, storage space and speed to meet the needs of my business.  And even though prices have come down significantly, it was still a purchase I was hoping not to have to make for a while.

Anyhow, we were leaving the house, picked up our mail from the day before and saw our property value assessment waiting for us.  We’ve been wanting to leave this place for a while, dreaming up new adventures somewhere else, but when we saw that our home was valued at tens of thousands of dollars less than we paid for it 5 years ago, well, those dreams were dashed.  We’ve known this was a reality for some time, but seeing it on paper left us a bit deflated.

Not the ideal way to start the day but I’m also one that’s always looking for the silver lining in things and I believe that everything happens for a reason.

But then two simple things happened that really shifted my day and left me feeling quite joyful and thankful by the end of the day.  First, the kindness of a stranger.

It’s always touching when someone you know imparts a gift on you.  But when someone you don’t know does the same, well, it just takes it to a whole new level.

When my “Trash/Treasure” post was featured and brought me thousands of new readers, one in particular was drawn to my use of old, vintage stamps in my artwork.  She had collected many for years and was ready to part from them.

I humbly accepted and sent her my address.  I offered to cover shipping and she politely refused.

On the same day that started a downhill descent,  I received a very gracious gift from this stranger.  The large envelope contained a huge collection of gorgeous used stamps, about 20 times the amount I had in my stash (and now use in every piece of artwork).

Inside she left a note indicating that she had been saving and collecting these stamps for the past 7 years.   I was stunned.  Touched.  Amazed that she spent all this time carefully collecting these gems from all over the world only to send them off to a total stranger.

Sometimes a simple act can make the world feel that much smaller.  Thank you Gaby.  You have no idea how much your gracious act impacted my day.

I now had a swing in my step knowing that the disappointments at the start of my day were really no big deal in the grand scheme of things.

Once we got down into suburbia, shopped around and had lunch, we commenced our trip with our weekly trek to the coffee shop/bookstore, where I sat down in the cafe to devour some of my favorite magazines.

While perusing a favorite, “Artful Blogging” I was stunned to turn the page to see an ad for Green Craft magazine with a picture of my feature from February.

Earlier in the year I was thrilled to be published in the crafting journal for my first time (you can read more about it here).  I rode the wave of pride and sheer excitement for a week or two and then things went back to normal.  It didn’t really drive traffic to my site or result in any contacts/inquiries, but I was still thrilled to have checked off something on my bucket list.

But to actually see a picture of my craft being used in ads months later?  Wow, that brought back all those giddy feelings.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a student of the Law of Attraction and believe there are no coincidences in life.  It amazing how much I am reminded of that on a seemingly daily basis.  Well lately I’ve been hearing a mantra over and over – in different shows I’m watching, in different things I’m reading, in different things I’m hearing.  It’s becoming increasingly apparent that a message is trying to be conveyed to me.

The basic mantra I’ve been hearing is the idea that life is not about the major things that happen to us (good and bad) but by the little things.  The little moments each and every day.

Life is made up of small pleasures.  Happiness is made up of those tiny successes.  The big ones come too infrequently.  And if you don’t collect all these tiny successes, the big ones don’t really mean anything.  – Norman Lear

Really it’s all a matter of perspective.  Sure, did I realize on that day that we had suffered some financial losses?  Absolutely, but it’s the small things that made those larger issues seem obscure.  When we take stock of all that is good in life, the other troubles seem trivial.

For a while I had veered away from my daily act of practicing gratitude.  But now that I’ve refocused and made it part of my daily habit, things are so bright.

And so today, I’m thankful for the little surprises that spring up when you least expect.  I’m thankful for the kindness of strangers, I’m thankful for you – my blog readers, and I’m thankful for unexpected moments that make you beam with pride and excitement.  Talk about putting things into perspective.

♥ full of gratitude

Read Full Post »