Quandary

Day 7--

Yes, I know, I missed two days!  I said I was going to post everyday for 40 days.  I missed Sunday--was traveling a bit, not being in front of the computer (a day of rest from the routine).  Then, Monday, I just let the day slip by!  So now it's Tuesday and I find myself in a quandary.

quandary dictionary definition: a state of perplexity, a situation in which you are confused about what to do.

What do you do when you can't make a decision? I am reminded from an earlier post of a tip I gave to my readers about making decisions:

(Little known fact:  "If not 'yes' then it is automatically a 'no', or,  Failure to make a decision is a 'No' decision.  'Yes' takes action and is most times hard, where 'No' can stay in the status quo.)

So to take my own advice, I cannot stay in this quandary of indecision.  If I choose to stay in my 'status quo' situation, I don't decide to move ahead.  I must put crippling fear (fear of what others might think) behind me, and move my feet toward the future.  I can do it!   My only quandary now is, how do I explain where I want to go?  It's kind of like this picture.  Going from dry land in the foreground to the mountain top (and might I say, that I have never been to) that is obscured by vapor and clouds.  How do you explain where you have never been?  Especially if you cannot see clearly thru the diffusing haze suspended in front of the destination?  

I have a meeting tonight, and I have to make this decision.  I must drive on thru the confusion, NO more quandary!

a new adventure begins . . .

As you know, if you have been following this blog, I have taken some time to think . . . contemplate changes and muse over possibilities.  In one area, I have made a decision. Now don't think that I have answers to everything and concrete plans for my whole life, because I don't. Thus I am considering extending this Sabbatical time to contemplate a few other directions, but rather than a time away, it will be more of a disciplined time to think.  I tend toward busyness, and spontaneity.  Disciplining myself for a time of solitude will be difficult, in the mist of all my doing, but I have come to understand, during this Sabbatical, that I need to cultivate a time of solitude. (And, of course, I will write about those times here in this blog!)

As to that one area of decision, I am now announcing the re-opening of my Abigail's Attic blog!   I am so happy to have made my decision and to be headed in a new direction.  It's like one of the boats (in the header picture) being moored for a long time in the bay and now heading out to sea!  Exciting!

Come on over and join the fun! Here's the opening post!

P.S.  On another note, or another of my boats floating in the bay, my wholesale blog is coming along with several posts scheduled, I will let you know when it opens!

Realignment

In my last post I talked about rest producing realignment.  I have been doing a heap of realignment, and not just in my spiritual life.  My business is getting a major overhaul!  I know some of my followers have been anxiously awaiting the reveal of these plans, so here we go.  One of the things that I did for this Sabbatical process was close my PruittCreations Etsy shop, and I  thought long and hard about it's future.

Some history:
I opened my first online shop in late November 2008. I have struggled with the brand, ever since, knowing that I needed to narrow my line of products.  I tried opening two more offshoot shops, to separate my products. This worked for my PruittSupply shop, as it holds its own in the marketplace.  But the initial offshoot, PruittDesign, a shop for my jewelry sales, failed.  Granting that I did have sales, they were not enough to sustain the shop's place in an already overcrowded jewelry market. So, in 2012, I changed the emphasis of that shop from jewelry to textile art, another of my interests. Although that has opened new doors for me, I still struggled with my online brand  in the first shop, it was still too diversified. While all this was happening, I started selling aprons in the wholesale market, and after a slow start, it has taken off!  I think that my brand is becoming significantly narrowed to "The Apron Lady!"  **smiley face**

Thus, for this reason I am expanding my wholesale business and paring down my online Etsy presence.  So, how am I going to accomplish these transitions?

Some of the business plans are now shaping up as follows:

1)  I reopened my Creations shop for a temporary time, as a bargain basement type of shop, to clear out all my inventory that will not be moved elsewhere.  Because much of the inventory in Pruitt Creations is also my craft show inventory, I will not be doing as many craft shows this year.  I will do only a few shows with specific products, instead of a table full of various fabric items, as I have in the past.  This period of creating small fabric items is closed--a decision that was very hard for me.  I will stick to my art and aprons.

2) My Pruitthandcrafts blog, that has been on a hiatus, is getting a makeover with a new URL, a new purpose and a new look!  I will be using it for my wholesale business, exclusively.  When it is ready, I will blog about it here.

3)  The rest of my art and crafty endeavors (Abigail Jayne Art), my writing, and my Etsy team posts will appear in my other blog:
        Abigail's Attic:  Reflections in thoughts and art, from Abby's attic.

Of course, I have a few more specific plans for my business, but this is the gist of it, for now.

Anyone else ever had trouble narrowing their brand presence? 

Thoughts on Rest

As you can see by all my posts, I've been resting quite a bit lately.  I am somewhat like the heading photograph, a dory just moored and floating in the bay. Though not in the water, I am spending time on my patio, checked out of my ordinary daily routines.  But what about rest?  Is it just an absence of activity? A time to "slack-off"?

REST according to Websters is:
1) peace, refreshment as produced by sleep
2) a period of inactivity after work or exertion
3) relief from things annoying, or distressing . . .
 . . . . . . and several other definitions with the last one being:
8) a device for supporting something, as a foot rest

I am making progress in my period of rest, (although some might feel that is an oxymoron.)  I feel like this time is "supporting" me in my future endeavors.  It is helping me separate the wheat kernel from its chaff. As I said previously in this post, I have made a couple of decisions, one of them regarding my spiritual life. Although this decision is a private one, I can tell you how this Sabbatical rest is supporting me spiritually. I am learning:

1)  Rest is a discipline. A basic need of all, both the rest and discipline.  

I am enjoying the teaching of Graham Cooke, and recently found he did some teaching on "The Practice of Rest." Now, I haven't heard it, but his quote was:

"Rest empowers you to become God-conscious, where He is the focus, He has the pre-eminence in all . . . We need that spiritual discipline." 

2) I am learning to live in rest. 

One of Graham Cooke's associates said:

Rest was "to step back, refresh and take a breath. Stepping back into stillness, into our secret place for a few hours or even a few days will allow us to realign and hear His voice."

I am realigning and I have heard some new direction.  I have heard and I will again, in my rest. 

3) I am kept away from a satisfied life without rest.


Another of my mentors, Richard J. Foster, has written a book called Celebration of Discipline.  In it he talks about solitude.  (BTW, you can be mentored by people you never met thru their literature.)

Loneliness is inner emptiness.  Solitude is inner fulfillment.

Our adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry and crowds.  If he can keep us engaged in "muchness" and manyness," he will be satisfied. 
ed.

My life, these days is much happier and contented.  

Anyone else feel like giving REST some space in your life?

Is "new" fun?

Someone recently asked me how my sabbatical was going, "Was I having fun?"  I said, "Huh?" I never thought of my sabbatical as a 'vacation' to have fun, but as I said in the beginning, a time to start out new, daring to believe that things could take a different path in my life.  

Unplugging from my everyday routines, dares my mind to be uncluttered, and allows me to contemplate new directions. It is deviating from my norm. I had become comfortable in my 'path well traveled' and didn't want to deviate for fear of the unknown. Deliberately exploring the possibilities of a new road, believing that things should and could be different than I have known them, can be a scary thing.  It is also hard work to discipline your mind to think differently. As for me, Sabbatical resting is work, not fun. To explain, I use a story from the Bible.

Although the Israelite slaves had cried for their freedom from the Egyptians, when the journey of actually leaving Egypt became tough, they cried again, to Moses, saying:  "Oh why did you bring us out here to die? Would that we would be slaves back in Egypt!"  They grumbled often on their path to freedom! 

Wrestling with new ideas, coming to a conclusion and a plan, while leaving the known, is not easy.  But it is what I have been up to.  Just to keep you up to date, I have decided to embark on a couple of different directions, one spiritual and one regarding my business. Making concrete plans to go in those directions is taking effort, time and research. I am not finished yet. So when I conclude this sabbatical, I am confident that I will have completed the required work and indeed be on a new path of exciting adventures (which I will share at a later date! ;) Stay with me!  

Log Jam or Drop Off?

Sabbatical or not, I find myself thinking about my online business.  Wanting to jump back into the water, so to speak. It's like, "Am I going to drop into the chasm with millions of other sellers, never to be found again?"  or get stuck in a log jam or backlog of information about how to do it right.

It's hard to discipline oneself.  I've been making notes and plans about my wholesale business, which I am not on sabbatical from, and I find myself reevaluating my online presence and wondering what would be best.  Over the years with my online business, I've waded through all the necessary information and read a lot about:

1) SEO
2) having a blog as a referral to your shop
3) promoting in this way and that
4) branding
5) good photography
6) great customer service . . . and . . .

Well, you get the picture!  There is just so much information out there!  I was about to drown, in fact overfilled, with information that was really not helping my business' bottom line.  Part of this sabbatical is to decide just what changes I might make to have a successful online presence.

Yesterday I spent the day doing some thinking about it.  No conclusions yet, so stay tuned if you are in the same boat as I am!

Any suggestions about improving your online profits?

P.S.  I know, I am asking for more info . . . . :)