Oh, sweet mother of pearl, the year is almost over.
Yup, it's officially true - the older you get, the faster the time goes. I can vouch for it.
Often, this can overwhelm me - an entire year gone - what have I done in an ENTIRE year??
This brings me to, for the second year in a row, my year in review.
I STRONGLY recommend you do this as well. It brings a sweet joy of remembrance that in the past 12 months, big things have happened.
A year is a long time to remember, especially if your memory doesn't like to work, so I grab my well-used Thrive planner (click here for more info) and look back to recall.
Top Three Things That Happened
(is there any number greater than 3! I will argue anyone on this fact)
- I finished the custom portrait commissions! A task that I felt like I was always behind on, but with your incredible patience and support, we were able to create some truly amazing masterpieces together.
- I was a vendor at my very first Wholesale show at Toronto Market Week and spent 2 nights away from the family. This was HARD and at the same time became completely my jam. I started repeating in my head - I'm afraid, but I'm going to do it anyway. And I did it, and am heading back for more in 2024!
- I decided to outsource some of my work. This is hard as someone that is mayyyybe a bit of a cough control freak cough. But to provide you with incredible ceramic ornaments and larger-than-life prints, I knew I had to bring in some experts to help. Do I still think about making larger prints at home and learning how to create ceramic ornaments myself? Why yes, yes I do, but my time is better spent creating.
The Three Most Difficult Things in the Year
(the flip side)
- Juggling time - yeah, parenthood is HARD. Your child/children deserve your attention. Every ask for you to play with them should be answered with a "YES!" and bedtime should be as long as they need to feel safe and secure. Does this happen? Well, umm NOPE. I mean the house would be a disaster, no art would be done, and someone needs to pause all the play to cook the food, but I do my best. Working when she goes down to sleep is difficult - it cuts into proper bedtime for myself, but it feels incredible at the same time. I honestly feel like I'm just MEANT to be here, in the studio.
- The first few shows this year. Business talk right now - I didn't make as much money as I had hoped, and in one show, I lost money, as the sales didn't cover the expenses of the show and product creation. So, yeah, that was hard. If I don't make a profit, I can't make this a viable business. But we kept trying, and the last few months of this year have been our absolute best to date.
- Reducing our shows. We cut back on how many shows we did this year to have more time to spend together as a family. More adventures, more play, and more quality time, and it was GREAT, like Tony the tiger Grrrrrrrrreat. So, yes, we will keep doing this.
BING, BAM, BOOM, that's it, a year wrapped up in a 3-minute read.
There's so much more, as I flip through the year in the Thrive Planner, and seeing each quarterly goal being checked off and accomplished makes me do a little happy dance, (You go girl!).
So grab that planner of yours and flip back, give yourself a HUGE pat on the back and celebrate everything you have built, learned, and grown from. You are incredible.
Another year is just around the corner, and I can already feel my energy start to build - there's nothing like that New Year energy buzz. Are you ready?