By September, we have enough of the year behind us to know a few things we didn’t know in January. Some plans worked. Some changed, and a few things that seemed important back in January probably don’t matter nearly as much now. There may be other things we keep thinking about that deserve more attention … Read more
I spend a lot of time thinking about what comes next. There are trips Tom and I want to take, things we want to do to the house, work I want to do with Handcrafted Adventure and Four Robbins, and changes I’m making with my health. Some of those things have dates attached to them. … Read more
Tom’s birthday was Saturday and mine was Sunday. Next year, I turn 60. I’ve known that, obviously. Birthdays aren’t exactly sneaky. But sometime recently I started thinking differently about the year between 59 and 60. I don’t want to arrive at 60 and realize I spent most of the year doing whatever was already in … Read more
Four books this month, and I didn’t set out to pick a theme. Somewhere around the third one, I realized they were all pushing against the same idea: that you’re supposed to know exactly where you’re going before you start. I’ve spent enough of my life thinking I needed to figure things out first. These … Read more
I’ve stayed with things longer than I should have simply because I’d already put so much time into them. Years ago, I decided to try selling some of the things I made at craft fairs. I spent weeks making inventory and getting everything ready for the first one. I hated it. Not making things. I … Read more
Almost every morning — or evening, or somewhere in between — there’s a version of the same conversation. Maybe I skip the walk today and just have coffee. Maybe I work on the project tomorrow instead. Maybe we stay home tonight because it’s been a long week. Maybe the dishes can wait. Tomorrow will be … Read more
I had days off and a list. Real plans — things I actually wanted to do. I finally had the time. And I still couldn’t start. Why can’t I start when everything is lined up? That’s the question this long weekend answered for me. The list was there. I was there. And somehow the distance … Read more
I spent years accumulating a life, and then I spent years quietly letting pieces of it go — without ever calling it that. I started as a secretary. Moved through accounting, became a controller, and then — gradually, for reasons that made sense at the time — stepped back. Part-time. Assistant work. Full charge bookkeeping. … Read more
For most of my adult life, I thought having goals meant I had direction. I always had a list — career goals, health goals, financial goals, trips we kept saying we’d take someday. Some years I hit them. Some years I didn’t. Either way, January would arrive and I’d start over, because that’s what you’re … Read more
