64 days until August 1st, which is hopefully the day we will be moving into our next apartment, somewhere in Nashville. The countdown is on! It’s only slightly worrisome – there are a lot of awesome listings, a majority of them outside our price range for the three of us about to stick to a student budget, but I can guarantee we will sign something this month and lock it in (the more I say it, the more I’m convinced we will get a great listing to fall into our lap). I am a bit of a nervous packer / apartment-hunter / human who tends to worry about normal human concerns around moving, but luckily I keep myself going on 30-minute yoga sessions!
In other news, trying to get this website off the ground will take some time but I’m really excited by the process. I’m trusting that starting up a long-term project will keep my sights on the horizon, rather than reinforce my tendency to only see what’s directly in front of me, which is not a bad approach to life by any means – I think all perspectives have their time and validity. But right now, it’s long-term project mode.
Having a project along with being “mama” is very core to me. I’ve loved being self-employed and working from home ever since I started Gray Sky Shoppe and Paris Gray Yoga during the pandemic quarantine. Finding little moments to craft, do yoga, work on listing new items, and write a little bit here and there – it all helps reinforce my inner identity that revolves around a million varied interests that I can develop into work for myself. There is an expressionist side of me that constantly finds ways to manifest itself – and if I don’t have my creative outlets (or exercise, or meditation), I’ve seen where it takes me: cleaning incessantly, reorganizing my closet by texile, worrying about moving and finding a place to live… and this sometimes ends up triggering my depression.
Fortunately, I’m learning that the creative outlets that I am developing into a business (on this website, and still on Etsy) are incredibly uplifting and elevate my energy to keep going. Motherhood is a marathon (definitely not the first to coin that phrase). Up at 6am, playing, chasing, painting, building, climbing! breakfast, grocery shopping, naptime, playing, cooking, disinfecting, bath, laundry, dinner to bed at 9:30, the usual mom list. Nothing short of magical, exhausting, and rewarding, but I love that piece of me that gets a spark to get up before everyone else is awake, have my coffee, and get excited about my small eclectic interests, like turning a watercolor into a print from my own home printer, watching my fiddle leaf fig sprout a whole foot after a sunny week and an experimental fertilizer stick, and even the simplicity and rhythmic nature of beading bracelets.
Happy May 2nd! I’ll leave you with encouragement to find your own creativity and run with it, see how it might wake up your brain! Xx.
My Idea List of Random Fun Things to Try this Year:
- a pilates class. I haven’t taken one in 11 years! But I remember I loved the way it made me feel after, a complete workout just from my own body weight. I met two amazing women during my yoga teacher training who have since grow their teachings to include pilates, I’ll leave them here: Harriet Heath – Mind Body Soul Moves and Gina Price – love them dearly!
- repotting my plants (I haven’t done this since we lived in Colorado in 2021)
- designing another set of recipe cards! You can find my current ones here.
Xx.
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