Spring is Here (where am I)!?!
I can hardly believe that we have landed in Spring already! I was just settling into the post holiday slow down, and then I blinked. Now it is the end of March! I have been on a wild ride since I last wrote one of these (Dec): I completed my first holiday product release, did some hunkering down for covid, my truck died/got a new car (whole story right there), said goodbye to a bus (as well as some dreams), and with that cleared a bunch of stuck energy, not to mention all of the work for new restaurants/wineries and old favorites too. All of those things have plenty of stories to tell in their own right, but I'll sum it up as being… a bit of a blur!
Joy...
As spring emerges I have been trying to shift my focus towards joy. It feels like a whole new way of being for me. I am moving from the darkness/shadows of grief and survival mode… into choosing the light of joy and delight for what this life can (also) offer.
One of the “life hacks” I have been playing with is using my watch as a reminder to be curious about the joy possible (when I look). I wrote down a little mantra, "My story unfolds in the joy of this moment..." and took a photo to use as my watch face (and/or phone screen).
Now every time I raise my wrist/check the time (or open my phone)... BOOM! I am reminded to look for the joy in that moment, and shift my perspective to one of curiosity. I can feel myself working this neglected muscle of joy (it is taking something). For a long time, "survival mode" has had me looking for the worst case scenarios as a constant safety measure. However, there is so much more than "disaster" that the world has to offer (even though it feels a little saturated by such events right now).
I have been thinking a LOT about how to orient TBD through the lens of joy and delight. How do I make my work a space to feel into joy each day, and hopefully infuse what I create/share with more joy for this world? The answer I keep coming up with is to constantly re-align myself, and discover my own joy.
Big News!
One of the ways I'll be leveling up this spring… is the addition of a SECOND KILN to my studio! I have been needing to do this for a while in order to step up my production and take on new projects. However, about the time I figured out I needed to take this step… new kilns were a 6 month wait, and used kilns were being gobbled up quick! I finally found an old version of the kiln I was looking for at a good price, but it was down in Paso Robles (could have used that truck of mine that died last month). I decided to make an overnight adventure of it, and rented a truck to head south. It was sweet to play tourist for a few hours in someone else's wine country, and the kiln made it back to the studio in good shape! Over the next months I will be working to fold it into my work flow, and hopefully be able to do more creative work (while also increasing production stuff)!
Thank you for opening this email, and getting this far... I'm very grateful for everyone following along on this journey. Feels like there are lots of seeds ready to grow into the unfolding season, and allow TreeBed Design to show up in the world in beautiful new ways. I hope the same for you!
With heaps of gratitude, - Micah/TreeBed Design
