When One of the Balls Drop

When One of the Balls Drop

As a small business owner, I wear all the hats.  A one-woman show, and every other cliché that you can think of when everything depends on you, and you alone.  Moms know what I am talking about.   

We keep all these little balls in the air all the time, while we juggle our jobs, kids, families, passions.  And when we get sick, balls start to drop.  And because we are so used to and adept at multi-tasking, every ball that drops makes us drive ourselves harder and harder. 

We need to stop it.  We can’t possibly do it all.  That is why support systems and contingency plans are so important.  A lesson that I learned the hard way over the past couple of weeks while stuck in bed with the flu.  After several days of beating myself up for not being able to keep up, I started listening to my body to rest and recover.  I was doing myself no good denying that I was sick.  There was no denying it. 

So I gave in and let myself be sick, realizing that drive and ambition and a quest to make my business a success had taken over my life.  Those things are important, don’t get me wrong…but not at the expense of taking care of my health with just the basics.  Getting enough sleep, exercising, and self-care.  I had let keeping all my “balls” in the air take over, working into the wee hours and pounding back coffee when I was up early in the morning to start all over again.  And my body finally said “no more.”  And put me on my proverbial ass.

So here I am, 2 weeks later, well rested for sure – drinking tea with breakfast while I put out the little fires that cropped up over the weekend.  And I am also taking the day to work on putting systems into place so that my work load is better managed for when I cannot be in the office.  There are so many tools out there for social media management, inventory management, accounting, even shipping that can help us one-woman shows to keep all those balls in the air.  Without knocking us off our feet.

So use those tools.  Free up your time and your sanity.  Take care of yourself and your health so you don’t have to learn the tough lesson that I did.  But if one of your balls does drop, let it drop.  You can always pick it up later.   

Finding Inspiration

Finding Inspiration

Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. Pablo Picasso

As an artist, finding inspiration is like breathing.  Everywhere you look, everywhere you go, there is something that touches your artists’ soul.  The curve of a building, the knots in a tree, the subtle change in color on the petals of a flower. 

 

But sometimes, abundance can be a hindrance...a challenge.  How do you use all the inspiration that  How do you convert the vastness of that inspiration into coherent designs?  Or does all the inspiration buzz around in your head, keeping you up and night?  All those ideas and potential chasing each other around, fighting their way to the surface.

surrounds you?

Channeling your inspiration into a focused vision for your art takes practice.  Finding common elements in those things that inspire you can help you to narrow down your perspective and focus your design or product line.  Common elements like color, shape, theme, era, etc. are a way to design a whole product line.

Using an inspiration board, notebook, or album to cache and refine ideas and designs can help an artist to blend different elements into the final designs.  Find ways that work for you - everyone is different.  Be creative.  Be brave. And be inspired.