Toasted Teacakes and Making Plans

 (The Art House Cafe, Penistone)

As a self confessed dreamer, and wandering somewhat aimlessly these last few months it feels jolly good to be at the helm of my little ship again and to be steering it with a sense of purpose and direction.

One can only meander for a while before coming undone and ultimately lost, not to mention fed up.  When a person has no purpose, life loses its lustre.  When one has nothing to achieve or aim for, it becomes humdrum and tiring.  I figured this all out for myself after losing interest in much of what I did for a living sometime last year.  I questioned every facet of my capabilities and decided that I was tired of art, tired of painting and creating stuff and just like that, gave up.  Weeks passed by where I didn't paint a thing, and I lost my passion for writing too.  It was like someone had turned the taps to my creativity off.

However, the true fact of the matter was, I wasn't actually tired of any of those things.  No, I'd just lost myself enroute to nowhere, and that was the crux of it - I had no goals in place, no intentions, no five year plan, no nothing.  I didn't know where I was going anymore.

I'm aware all that might sound dreadfully dull to some of you; indeed, the very nature of the word 'goals' sounds as if energy is involved and just the very idea of getting up and creating some goals made me feel weary! But in my months without any, where I drifted and wafted, I felt myself becoming very disatisfied.  My life didn't have a purpose - oh, it was full to the brim of stuff, and things to do, but I wasn't heading anywhere and that is most dispiriting.

So, with the help of my new guidebook 'Grow Your Handmade Business', I am finally setting some goals and intentions, and I am not feeling afraid by the enormity of some of these; quite the opposite infact, I am feeling fired up and ready to go!  My delicious green filofax now has a monthly goals section, and I add weekly goals to my diary pages.  It is most satisfying to tick these things off once they're done and I get the added bonus of feeling like Im achieving things, instead of just thinking about them.

One of my smaller goals is to have business breakfast meetings with myself at a very lovely cafe in a nearby village, where I will go over my plans to see where I am with things and what needs tweaking.  I also use the time to dream up new products and ideas.  Working from home means getting out of the house from time to time is essential, a fresh space brings fresh perspective; not to mention hot buttery teacakes and a pot of the finest Yorkshire tea.

I had myself one of these meetings on Tuesday morning, and enjoyed it enormously!  From this very meeting I'm pleased to report a new stream of ideas for greetings card artwork has been born, the latest being some seasonal art for my agent.

Life feels so much clearer now I have a good idea of where I want to be, and what I want my creative biz to look like.  Business doesn't have to be boring, and I think for creative businesses especially it can be exciting and very inspiring.

Til next time,
J xxx