MIA

Well what do you know!  I made it a whole month without posting! lol  No, it wasn't on purpose.  I had lots of blog posts running through my head as usual.  The plain truth of things is that I was just. too. tired.  Have you ever been so tired that you just wanted to sit down and cry?  That you felt overwhelmed by how exhausted you felt?  If you have, then you know where I've been this month.  I don't know what caused it.  I suspect it was stress.  I was stressed over the usual things---work, housework, chores to be done.  But I think the bottom line was The Shop.  My shop in Etsy.  Don't get me wrong.  I love making things and I like having a place to sell (or try to sell!) them.  But what happened was that I was thinking about The Shop 24/7, even when I didn't know I was thinking of it.  It was like a loaded gun to my back constantly pushing me.  I didn't have time for anything else in my life, no time for relaxing, no time for life things that needed done.  This month stopped that.  I had some delightful company mid month which required me to spend time cleaning and hiding tidying things.  =)  Because of my work schedule d/t said visit I could do very little but get my house ready, so there literally was NO time for The Shop.  It was a good thing, really.  It forced me to step back and put The Shop on the shelf for the time being.  It also helped me realize that The Shop pressure is probably what significantly contributed to the above mentioned exhaustion.  So I quit.  Oh not for good, mind you.  The Shop is still there and open (check it out on the sidebar),  but there isn't anything new in it.  I still hope to add to it, and still hope to one day have more time to really build it.  But I am/have been taking a break.  I've also taken a break from blogging (obviously! lol) and have not been quite as verbal on Facebook.  I guess I just needed a break from a lot of things.  The good news is that I feel so much better.  I haven't been feeling that awful, heavy exhaustion that made it difficult to get the dishes and laundry done, let alone anything fun.  The other day I sat down in my studio and made cards all day.  I haven't done that in way too long.  It felt great.  What will I do with The Shop?  As I said before, it's still open and I plan to keep it that way.  I plan to continue to make things to put there, but I have to do it more slowly and not push so hard to try to make it a paying business overnight.  Also, I am completely up for custom orders from my friends.  =)  All in all, it's been a good learning experience.  Learning my limitations (full time work leaves only so much energy for other things!), learning patience (building a business takes time---still in the Patience 101 course there! lol), learning time management (If I don't take time for me---I won't be able to put my heart into creating fine things to sell).  Of course this does not mean that I will not need to re-learn some of these things at some point, I'm sure!  I'm like that. lol  But maybe if I keep trying, one day I'll get it right.  =)  Cheers!