How We Live + Work // 6.22.16
Hello! Deana here...
Last week was a rough one. From the events that broke are hearts in Florida to the sweet people we worked with...there seemed to be confusion and distrust weighing down on us all.
One of my clients is bravely shifting her business and it feels like the universe is pushing back with resistance. She feels overwhelmed and weary.
Sometimes when we muster the courage to bring our work into the world or try something new, it feels like we're immediately tested to our limits.
For example, if I write a post about how I keep my schedule organized, immediately after hitting publish my schedule goes crazy and I feel like chucking the system I shared so publicly.
Or if I give away the blog post strategy worksheet I created—the one that keeps me focused and productive on most days—then all of a sudden I find myself with writers block and a worksheet I'm cursing.
In those moments I feel heavy and sad with confusion—which makes me distrust everything: my talents, my plan, my dreams, and my future.
But here's what I do in those times so I don't completely lose my mind:
I remember that for every action, there is a reaction.
For every cause, there is an effect.
The way I see it...when I shift something in my world, everything around it has no alternative but to respond and recalibrate to the new coordinates.
This happens every single time.
When we decide upon a new way of being, we're given unexpected (sometimes unpleasant) opportunities to practice our new path. To truly commit to it.
And that, my friends, is when the rubber hits the road.
That's when you have to walk your walk. Talk your talk. Stare down your realities and fears; and process your emotions with as much compassion, perspective, and sense of humor you can muster.
If you need help in this department, I can't recommend this book enough.
Constructive Wallowing by Tina Gilbertson.
Want other book recommendations? Here you go!
Ready for this week's list?
Things we're doing + loving this week at Simple + Soulful Creative:
Our new camera arrived! We're so excited to get to know this beautiful thing!
We had a nice camera when the kids were little. But one day our two youngest (who were probably 3 and 4 at the time) decided to shoot an "exercise video" with it. The exercises were butt crunches that involved squeezing gumdrops with their...ahem...cheeks.
"And squeeze two, fee, foh! Come on wadies!"
They ended up giggling so hard they dropped the camera (which they'd sneakily procured) and broke it good.
If you ask me, one of the hardest things about working from home is eating fairly healthy!
Left to my own devices I'll work through the day and nibble on handfuls of this and that until I'm so ravenous I pounce on the first crunchy thing in sight at 4pm.
So simple. So convenient. Such a darned good idea I can't believe it took me so long to run across it.
My all time favorite green smoothie recipe is this one. I've been drinking it off and on for years (now, pretty much daily because I no longer have to chop everything midday and make a big mess). My kids drink these too. Give it a squirt of agave syrup to sweeten the deal.
And speaking of eating...or prepping meals (especially if you work from home and your brain is pretty much fried by 6pm and you simply don't feel capable of making another decision)...
Have you heard of the app Plan To Eat? It's a website/tool you can use to clip and curate all your recipes (on and offline) and digitize your menu planning. It's got a lot of cool features like: you can label which stores you like to shop for certain ingredients, you can keep a list of standard pantry items, you can drag and drop your meals onto your planner, you can sync your meal plan with your Google calendar, you can share recipes with friends, and you can print out your calendar (so kids no longer need to yell "What's for dinner?!" ) and the shopping list? Organized and ready to go:)
Curious about what happens during a consulting call with me?
Today you get to be a fly on the wall.
My dear client Donnamarie wanted me to share a portion of her session with you. We were talking about how a new business follows the same development as an infant. She found the story I shared so helpful, she suggested I put it on my blog. So here you go.
Here's the pep talk I shared on the blog last Friday. It's a list of reminders to for those times you want to curl into a ball and make all your business challenges go away. Honestly, I beg you to ready it. You CAN do uncomfortable things. I know you can.
Other things that lit us up this week:
+ We munched on these on Father's Day morning. One of our sons is a vegetarian so we ditched the bacon. Our daughter is a vegan so she adjusted hers. Our oldest son requested them instead of real cupcakes for his next birthday. Moses finds the yummiest things!
Mashed Potato Cups
+ Our business is following this pattern too! In an online culture that feels like the wild wild west—where many people are dramatically staking their claims, proclaiming themselves the law of the "teach-your-signature-class-and-get-rich" land, it's nice to see a successful person I admire break it all down so sanely. Whether you have a design business or not, I believe Shauna's insights are spot on.
+ My daughter and I have taken our love of learning how to hand-letter a step further. We purchased these wonderful, customizable TUL notebooks from Office Max and are using them as Art Journals. Every day we make an entry. We add song lyrics, excerpts from beloved books, lovely and funny things we've overheard.
Well, there you have it! It's been a busy and fun week around here! We hope you're enjoying a most wonderful day and we can't wait until we're together again next Wednesday (although, you certainly don't need to wait until Wednesday because we're always here—creating resources and cheering you on)!
P.S. Our services have evolved to include a wide array of NEW ways to work with us! Collaborative copywriting sessions? They're seriously fun and your copy gets seriously DONE. Design On Demand? I'll loan you my Squarespace design skills by the hour. Just need a site and you'll write the rest? Okay. Need the whole B-school enchilada so you can stop futzing and get going (with an experienced strategy and design team)?