Oh I just hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July...well, I guess if you are in the United States, that is. Isn't it amazing, the WWW? Sometimes I just have to marvel that this whole planet is connected and that we're all friends from the short distance of our computer screens. Amazing, really. I still can't get over it. Kinda like when you look at an airplane flying, and you find yourself thinking, "How does that work again?" But anyhow, it's just marvelous. Ok. I am going off on tangents...but really. Very cool.
Ok, so where was I? We did have a great 4th of July. According to my kids, the best yet. Here in Utah, it's spread out over like 4 days. I love it. It started out with sneaking on top of our roof while the kids were asleep, and watching an amazing firework show (some of the best in the country, really.) Well, it might have helped that I was sitting next to a very cute boy in the dark, mountain air on top of our roof at 10pm with a warm summer breeze blowing...all while promising me that I wasn't a dork for being terrified to climb back down again. Have I mentioned that I'm terrified of ladders? OK. I'm digressing again. But the weekend was full of family time: gardening, melting popsicles, sidewalk chalk, horseback riding, sparklers, family reunions, swim suits, cooking, swimming and paper hats. I love this time of year!
I've also had some time to just listen and step back a bit. I'll be honest. Really honest. When I had the (crazy) idea to start selling art prints out of our teensy-weensy apartment 3+ years ago, I really hoped it would grow and flourish and develop...but I could really only see one step ahead. I just wanted to do well with that first step. Well, that first step turned into a second, and into a third, and faster than I knew it, we were in a house with a basement dedicated to this little business that all the sudden isn't so little any more. Sometimes I look back and think, "How and when did that happen?" and other times, I know just how. It was inch by inch, row-by-row (Do you know that song? It's been in my head all week, and I just love that it's stuck there. Forgive the Muppets link.). But at the same time, I've had some time to wonder this month. I've wondered about motherhood. I've wondered about motherhood and business. I've wondered about motherhood and business and creativity and how that all bundles together and has figured itself out over time. I have moments where this is just a really fun ride and I can't get enough, and then I have moments where I wish there was a self help book called "How to be a designer and illustrator and mother of 3 with your own at-home business full of creative making which you blog about in the few spare moments when you should be meeting deadlines and still get clean underwear in your kid's dresser drawers before it's too late." That might be a really long title for a self help book. But I'd read it. Although, I have a feeling that if I read it, it would be reading my own thoughts...something in the voice of: Take each day at a time. Answers come while you are busy keeping your priorities. Listen to your kids. Work really hard. Love what you do. Create from your gut. Dream big. And do the laundry on time. But have a spare pack of underwear tucked away just in case.
{DOWNLOAD HERE}
I've been thinking a lot about this phrase this week. It's been on my mind and slowly changing me from the inside out. Sarah Jane Studios, in some ways, kinda happened by accident. It was happy accident, or an "on purpose" accident. And lately I've been asking myself the questions that have these kinds of answers. "Live your life on Purpose."
Just the mantra I needed.
Hope you like it too, cause you can download it here. It's a good thought. And it's sticking.
Happy July everyone! It's one of my favorite months...for a certain birthday kind-of reason:) Cake any one?
xo
sarah j.