Crossroads

{Are you doing what you want?}

Lately my thoughts have been directed towards making some kind of big change in my life. I have this lingering (read: nagging) thought that I should be using my brain and artistic ability to further myself in a related career. However, I am still trying to figure out exactly what I want to do and how I can possibly make a steady income inspirations and ideas in my head materialize into a marketable product. The last time I decided to start something, I established this website convincing myself that "if you build it, they will come". Kevin Costner - Ha!

Ever had that voice inside your head nag at you about something? Definitely is. Has been, for about 3 years now.

I don't want to live a life where I don't give new experiences a good college try. I don't want to be afraid of new challenges. But I am. I am terrified. Terrified of failing at doing something I love. Terrified partly because I know how quickly things could go downhill considering our terrible economy, and secondly I don't know the first thing about running my own business.  Couldn't I just be the beauty of a business?  Come up with all the brilliant ideas, execute them exquisitely and have someone brilliantly business savvy take care of all the extra messy stuff I can't be bothered with?  

Any volunteers?

Daily I remind myself that I am lucky to have a steady income and be able to afford my beautiful home and the comfortable yet modest life I live. I have a quote on my bulletin board at work that I have to read (nearly) every day - "The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without it." 

I am grateful. So, I shelve grandeur ideas of "Delightful Blooms." Who am I kidding? After all, I haven't even conjured enough gumption to print business cards for said budding business (pun intended).

I'm just not sure exactly which fork in the road is right for me just yet: 

• Etsy Shop creating custom Maps (with more than one item for purchase, and more than one sale annually)? 
• Floristry - i.e. Delightful Blooms? 
• Party Planning?
• Blogger (with little-to-no audience)?  

All these things I happily and (perhaps too) eagerly do part-part-part-part time as favors to family and friends... what remains for me is how to translate all that I do into a (reliable) paycheck.  Mortgage must be paid!

So that's where I'm at right now. All I can surmise at this time is that I know I want to do something else. 

Just very unsure about where to go from here.

image credit

Overjoyed

{They say it's the small things in life that make it all the worthwhile.}

The sky's the limit.

This week it's true, for certain.  

• Helping my girlfriends in planning a baby shower.
• Meeting up for coffee talk with a beloved friend.
• Reading the perfect article in a magazine inspiring me to make small changes.
• Finally feeling at home in our new house.
• Reading another blog and trying a new style.
• Finding out a far-away sister-friend will be coming stateside soon...

Somehow it's all coming together this week.

My cup runneth over.

Friendships

{Friends are the Family you Choose}

... To paraphrase Edna Buchanan.  There is nothing quite like knowing you can be your true, unabashed, carefree self and know that there will be no judgment, no criticism, only love on the other side.

Friendship is a powerful thing.  I've always prided myself, if not on anything else, on being the type of person that is worthy of being a good friend. I place value in traits I look for in others - traits I seek in friendships, in relationships in general:

• Trustworthyness
• Trust
• Loyalty
• Compassion
• Love
• Open Heart
• Open Ears
• Sense of Adventure
• Sense of Humor
• Generousity

I bet one or more of you would look at this list and say, "well, yeah!"  It seems pretty basic a concept. Those are pretty important traits for anyone, right?

Here's what Wikipedia says about friendship:

In a comparison of personal relationships, friendship is considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations...

Value that is found in friendships is often the result of a friend demonstrating the following on a consistent basis:

• The tendency to desire what is best for the other
• Sympathy and empathy
• Honesty, perhaps in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the truth, especially in terms of pointing out the perceived faults of one's counterpart
• Mutual understanding and compassion
• Trust in one another (able to express feelings - including in relation to the other's actions - without the fear of being judged); able to go to each other for emotional support
• Positive reciprocity - a relationship is based on equal give and take between the two parties.

I believe that friendship essentially involves a distinctive kind of concern for your friend, a concern which might reasonably be understood as a kind of love, and who doesn't love love?  Just try Googling "friend love" and see what photos you find.  There's lots of love out there... “It seems to me that love is everywhere.”

Yes, I love my friends.  I tell them so on the regular.  And I know that my abundance of affection rubs some the wrong way, but I can't help it.  When I know that I love someone, I tend to show it to the world.

So, my friends, you are loved.  I love you.