How My Spotty Vision Got Us Here
Do you have a spot? You know, like Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory has a spot. It’s that place that you park yourself for some quality thinking time and maybe eat take-out. I’ve got a couple of spots. My end of the living room couch and our back deck. (I’m much more flexible than Sheldon though and others are welcome to sit in my spot.)
A couple of years ago, I started to up the quality of that precious thinking time. I started daydreaming again. Imagining. Wondering. (Oh sure, there was still some worrying and some to-do list making going on.) But the vision of what my next years of life might be like was taking shape. Then, I had some unexpected eye surgery and suddenly I had to stay pretty still with not much else to do but think. Literally and figuratively, not what I had envisioned! I had already started some preliminary retirement planning before that “life surprise” popped up. Oddly enough, with new found time and actual blurry vision, my mind got very focused on making changes.
So, while recuperating, relaxing on the back deck in the spring air, I began to plan starting a craft business. Which seemed odd considering I was living with the uncertainty of how my vision would heal. (Also, while coaxing the backyard chipmunks to trust me to feed them.)
I have dabbled in crafting for most of my life. I purchased my first Cricut machine back in 2004. Anyone remember those image cartridges? I’ve done scrapbooking, stamping, card-making, vinyl signs and more, yet I still keep finding new things I’m eager to try. Maybe you have a “hobby stash” similar to mine – with both remnants of past projects and those waiting to be worked on. Like many other crafters, I started giving my designs as gifts and my lovely family and friends suggested that I sell my products. Obviously, people sell their hand-crafted items all the time. It was a reasonable idea that I wasn’t sure was for me.
I realized that I wasn’t listening to the right thoughts. Mine were saying “Well, that is them, not me. They have more skill, knowledge, more of something I don’t have.” Why did it take me so long to understand limiting beliefs and their fun-sucking ways?? That’s where the daydreaming comes in handy. The big dream doesn’t have to have all the multitude of “how to” steps and the “why it won’t work” worries attached to it. It is a vision of your life in that dreamy place. My dreamy place was a studio of some kind and a business making things I loved.
After another eye surgery, and with clear vision, I had a retirement plan in place. The Crafty Chipmunk officially started in the fall of 2022. I retired in early 2023, had amazing help to renovate a room for a studio, and started the steep learning curve of running a hand-made business! It’s been an incredible time and I’m grateful for support from people like you. Yes, there are days when I just want to stay in my spot. Yes, there are challenges. You know those days. Thankfully, I also know that dreams become reality the same way a chipmunk prepares for the winter – by making brave dashes from the safety of her den over and over again.
I hope you will never underestimate the power of sitting in your spot and listening for what is calling you from deep within. I want you to give those thoughts time to percolate to the surface and become ideas. I invite you to let your mind wander a bit then let me know what you do when you venture out from your spot.
Over here in The Crafty Chipmunk Studio, I’ve got my eye on my new designs and visions of hot glue and paint. I am excited to see what’s next for both of us.
Always be creative, friend.
Pam