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thinking, writing, learning

Archives for July 2015

When I need to…

July 30, 2015 ·

water

I know it’s because my heart is racing, or the breathing is shallow. I may not be consistent with yoga or meditation, but I’ve learned it’s my breath that I can always come back to.

And it works. Inhale slowly, hold, and exhale slowly. Within minutes, I can feel it.

 

Filed Under: mindfulness

Creative Ways to Rest

July 29, 2015 ·

2015-05-20 15.41.14-1

Ok, that title is misleading. Not everyone can do what I did to rest. My husband had ankle replacement surgery recently, and I helped in his recovery (shampooing hair, preparing meals, walking the dog, cutting the grass, etc etc). It doesn’t sound restful, but it was.

What I did while he recuperated:

  • read
  • cooked
  • thought about printing (this was actually helpful)
  • planned card text
  • took some online classes
  • wrote to people, real snail mail
  • napped

All of this put me in a calm, relaxed frame of mind.  I can tell because this week things are picking up again, and I’m finding less time to get things– you know those important “things” done. I am going to be closing the Etsy shop for a while, planning, making new cards and getting ready for fall.

And then…we’ll jump back into holiday craziness and all that comes with owning a retail space during the shopping season. I think I’ll miss napping the most. But I do have that blue sofa in the shop……

 

 

Filed Under: business, creativity, family Tagged: creativity, enough, letterpress, rest

Pushing On

July 12, 2015 ·

I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.

Marissa Mayer

I am not sure I always did this. But at some point in my life, I wanted to figure things out. Printer broken? Take it apart. Need a room networked? Run the cables.
So I am trying to do this with my printing as well. But, wow, does it take time. There are so many variables that can go wrong- ink, lock up, type, pressure, humidity in the air. Each time I get ready to print, I check the packing, the placement of the base or the type, and even the different paper styles I use.

People wonder why I even bother to do this. “You can print whatever you want digitally now,” they say. “This looks like too much work.”

Yes, but it’s fun work. It’s the figuring it out that I love. And when I get a print that is nearly perfect (because nothing in letterpress is perfect), I smile with satisfaction.

Filed Under: frustration, learning, letterpress, passion Tagged: letterpress, lineoscribe, pearl, printing

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