So I’m going to be on T.V. this Monday morning. I know, pretty crazy. I would normally be really shy and nervous, but I get to speak about a topic that I am super passionate about and one that I hope other women and mother’s tuning in will benefit from. I’m going to be on my local news station with 2 other women discussing the realities of starting a business from home, as well as tips to get started. I’ve been wondering what I’m going to say, and I have some ideas…but I’m looking for more.

Starting my business nearly 3 years ago was a really scary thing. But I was so gung-ho and so driven, those fears never really crept in. I was possibly too naive to know what I was getting into, and maybe that was a good thing! But it’s interesting, because when you are a business, you have to start thinking of business-y type things. Things like:  “Will people even buy this stuff?” ” How am I going to market myself?” ” How am I going to pay for it all?” And pretty soon, all those creative ideas start to get mixed in with very non-creative realities that very often yank those creative juices and throw them to the ground. Thoughts like, “You can’t do that! No one has done anything like that before, and it’ll get run over.” Or, “That would be too costly or take too much time.” Or, “Sure you think it’s a good idea, but it has to appeal to lots more people than just you!”

Do any of these voice sound familiar? It’s interesting: the banter that goes back and forth in my head now that my art isn’t just a creative hobby any more. It’s my work! And I don’t like to call it that, because I really do love it, and it’s better to think of it as play, or I get stressed about it.  But let’s face it. You love to create! You love getting your hands dirty and just making it is what you do best. And to have a business from that? Heaven. But there is the reality that you are a business…you are ultimately in this to be successful, and you must be concerned about outcome. That is the nature of being self-employed! And if I have learned anything, thinking about outcome always inhibits by ability to create good art. Always. Hands down. But how to purely create without letting the natural worries of being a business creep in, is an art in and of itself.  Allowing yourself to truly express without worry or thought is a lot harder to do when there are people on the other side of the table. But, I also have learned, that it can be incredibly motivating  and can help you open up to that truly creative place.

My answer is Love. Love (the opposite of fear) will wipe away all those business-y concerns that we all have to think about. Love will create your best art. Love will inspire you to create from that genius place. Love will keep you going when times are hard and your aren’t having the successes you need. Love will bring other people to you who will love what you do too.

Love, Love, Love. I hear a song coming:)

But isn’t it true? We must “lose the fear of being wrong” and only then will we be truly successful because our work will be wonderful and beautiful and real.

So, I would love to know your thoughts. I am going to be giving some advice about starting an at-home business and also the realities of life as a stay-at-home-mom business owner. I hope to be taking the spin of how to keep that creative spirit alive when you are juggling all the aspects of starting a business.

What advice do you have about balancing the creative side and the business side of things? Does having a business interfere with your natural instinct to just create and not care what other people think? And if you don’t have a hobby based business, what questions do you have about how to get started or what to be aware of when you do get started?

Thanks you guys! I can’t wait to hear your responses. I have a feeling there is a lot to be said on this topic.

Happy Monday!

We’re back from  another vacation visiting family. This time to my back East home right outside of DC as well as to the beach. A perfect getaway right before summer’s end! So we are getting (slowly) back into the swing of things, but all the while missing all the extra hugs and kisses and wonderful company of parents and siblings.

Taking a time-out to be with family always gives me a chance to reflect on how happy I am. I adore my husband, my children, my home, my church….my life!  And yesterday, as I was teaching Sunday School to our group of 13 year old’s somewhere along the topic of “It’s All About Your Attitude” and “You Can Choose to be Happy” we watched this clip and this clip which always get me in that grateful mood. There is so  much to be grateful for!

And I made these little bumper sticker reminders, which I have had on my fridge for years. Sometimes you need a good reminder when you’re grabbing that glass of milk.

But, if you have a baby Ella, you get the reminder every day. I guess I just keep the sticker up for when I can’t see her charming face…which actually is this sunshin-y every day. Man, I love her!

Oh, and feel free to download the sticker and print it for your own personal use.

Well….happy Monday! Hope you are having a joyful day!

They love learning. They are constantly curious. They keep developing new skills. They love to read. They are still making new friends. They still love watching the sunset. They have to create.  They love to serve people.

I want to be one of those people. I am aging another year next week and I have been rather contemplative of my aging body. 31 is getting up there!

But this year, my motto is Create and Learn and Play more!

Feel free to download this here and print it out. Happy creating!

“With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am in the final stages of this book, and it’s taken a lot of dicipline for me to get work done. But in this case, my work isn’t typical “work.” It requires a very lucid and creative mind, which under the normal pressures of mothering young children, is usually the first thing to go out the window.

It’s made me think a bit:

How can I keep my creativity from sagging while spending most of my day in exhausting responsibilities?  Especially motherhood responsibilities?

I am a young mother. I’m 30. I have 3 kids all at home, under school age. That means from 6 am – 8 pm I am 110% with my kids. Feeding, playing, cleaning, teaching, driving, disciplining, scheduling, paying bills, calling, observing, making lists, and then feeding, playing, cleaning, kissing and bedding. For 14 hours a day. And then, at 8pm (lately 7pm since my husband is on kid duty for all the “I can’t fall asleep” moments) I am illustrating. Now don’t get me wrong. I LOVE motherhood. I absolutely adore being with my kids, and we love being all together. I am so blessed to be a mother, and try and live every day in gratitude for these 3 precious blessings. We have a lot of fun around here. But….let’s keep it real. Motherhood is hard work.

This I know: Nothing kills creativity more than 1) exhaustion and 2) scheduled mundane responsibilities

How does a young mother with so many responsibilities all day, shift into “play mode” herself when the exhaustion sets in?

I can’t say I have the answer, but I have found one.  And since I think (I hope) there are others of you out there like me, I hope this helps.

Living in the present.

What I know about creativity is that it flows freely when we are loosed from the past and not gripped by the future. We must be fully present to have full access to our creativity.  This might seem obvious to some, but what tangles it up are the duties of motherhood which so easily catch us up with worries about the future, thoughts of the past and how fast our children are leaving it, and the duties of the present day which often lead to exhaustion and what I call “robot mode:” going through the list of to-do’s as quickly as possible but finding by the end we feel like a machine; a feeding, cleaning, cooking, running around machine.

How often, for instance, are you talking on the phone and getting your kids dressed and making breakfast on the stove? Happens a lot around here. Nothing is wrong with multi-tasking, but it can keep us from being present minded.

But how, do you ask, can we stay present minded when there are so many responsibilities pressuring us all around?

1) Be aware. Notice the chubby legs when you are putting them through those pant holes. Listen to the sound of the scrambled eggs popping. Watch the leaves blowing when you are on a walk with the kids. Feel the soft cotton when you are folding clothes. Your senses will be hightened even amidst routine work, and your mind will focus on the ‘now.’

2) Slow down: Look at your list of things to do, and knock out half. You will most likely only get a few done anyways, so don’t let your mind worry about more than it can handle. Do one at a time and do them well and to completion.

3) Breathe: Taking time to center yourself physically is vital. It doesn’t have to be yoga or a full hour of mediation. Even just 10 deep breathes with your body in an open, strethed position can wake up your cells to a full sense of being alive.

4) Have gratitude: Love what you do and embrace what comes every day. When you are doing the dishes be grateful for the food you have. When you picking random clothes everywhere, be grateful for fun loving children, that though messy, are yours. This turns work into joy. This brings your mind to the present and frees you of unnessesary stresses.

5) Notice how children see the world: Children are creative beings by definition. They are constantly living in the ‘now.’ They can’t comprehend the future, and they aren’t capable of digesting the past. They are in a constant state of awareness and discovery. Notice how their work is their play, and their play is their work. They can find joy in a simple accomplishment. They can find joy in a simple beauty. Adults can re-learn this skill and in doing so, discover creativity in their daily work.

This is my focus this month. I will be honest, and say that these 5 things are easily forgotten in this crazy world. But I do know, that by letting myself be present minded in my daily work as a mother allows for creativity to shine through what would normal squish it. It’s a challenge for sure, and it takes constant reminding. But it works.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this too. It’s a journey that I think so many of us are on, and we can learn so much from each other!

“The living moment is everything.” - D.H. Lawrence

Love to you all,

Sarah

There is a pregnant Robin that has been making a home somewhere on our property…I can’t tell where yet. But I see her, lugging that big belly around, and wonder when those babies will hatch.  Every morning, she finds a crooked twig in front of our breakfast window, and sings a little tune and then dashes off to find more twigs and dry grass. Is this her first hatch? Does she get scared? Or does she simply get lost in the present moment of a beautiful sunrise? This time last year I too was lugging around a big belly, and had only a wish of being as spritely and light as Little Robin Redbreast. By the size of her belly, and if my timing is right, I am thinking that she will have a very special Mother’s Day.

I’m loving when my kids pretend to be rock stars.  On most days, my kids are the experts on something…the top of their world.  And so I ask myself….when was the last time I pretended I was a rock star? Not the spike your hair stiff kind (although that would be pretty wonderful) but a rock star at whatever I am doing at the moment. Like a rock star kitchen sweeper. Or a rock star laundry folder. Think about that. Aren’t kids awesome? I learn the coolest stuff. Today is going to be a great day….. I am off to be a really cool rock star.

This weekend is the big move!

As humbled and thrilled and excited I am to finally own our own piece of this Earth, I can’t help but look back at where we have been this past year and reflect on the beautiful times we’ve had. We are very ready to move on, but looking back, I see where my baby was born, the trees my children called home and the spot of lawn where we could spot deer in the wee hours of the morning. It is rather like the change of the season: the blooming of a new spring as we tuck winter away for storage.

Here is a thought found on Julia Deno’s blog this morning.
“A little bit sad about the place you are leaving,
a little bit glad
about the place you are going.
It is a time of quiet wonder–”

Robert McCloskey

We are so lucky and blessed to be moving into a much better situation than we have been in. Our first house. But there is always room for nostalgia isn’t there? Life is beautiful no matter which lens you choose to look at it with: past, present or future.

Moving onward and upward!

xo

sarah jane

Let it be known that I have officially let my email inbox tower beyond reason (Sarah Cynthia Sylvia stout hights) and my house it currently a tornado zone. Well, there is usually an element of tornado-ness on a daily basis, but we have now reached danger zone. The move is under way, and is going slowly but surely as we are also remodeling the new place before we move in. I am so thrilled. We are loving the neighbors and the neighborhood. The new house is getting a new fresh coat of paint (no more purple red and green walls) and it’s all starting to come together. The art studio is coming along, and should be done this week!

That said…..

If you have been trying to email me, I WILL respond. I promise. I am just super behind! And if you are thinking that the blog will slow down…it won’t I still have some pretty exciting things going on behind the scenes. Things don’t ever really slow down here. The book is nearly done, and there are some fun shop updates coming soon!

In the mean time, I am dreaming about these spaces, how lovely they are, and the reality that I will have a place to call my own soon.

Oh, and Happy St. Pat’s! Corn beef and cabbage on the menu tonight….yum.

Hello, Hello!

Hope you all had a wonderful break for the holidays. I can’t tell you how good it feels get away from the computer and other essential electronics for 2 weeks. What a treat! But it is good to be back. We went to California for the break, and as good as it is to be home finally, I do miss the leisurely days.

But it’s the beginning of the week. And January. And 2010. And it feels good. I feel fresh, ready to restart. Like trying on new clothes. Or diving into the lap lane. Fresh is always good.

So, I am a big goal setter. Remember this post? And I have already started to round up my resolutions for the upcoming year. But I have learned through experience, to only set a few….too many goals ensures total doom (usually the lose 10 pounds kinda goals!)  I have my own personal and family resolutions (namely to stop complaining about things I can’t control and to make sure my husband knows he is the center of my universe), but for my art….

1. Finish the art for my first picture book

2. Draw every single day

You’d think that drawing every day would be rather easy to do…but OH it’s hard to find the time…and the free elbow room to even draw on paper when I have 3 other little ones claiming my other limbs! And the book….I’ve been working on this for a while now, and it’s so rewarding…nothing like being challenged doing something you love.

So yes…bring on the new year. Bring on the new vision, the new goals and the fresh start.

What goals are you setting this year? I have a good feeling. It’s going to be a great year.

Happy Holidays everyone!

PS: remember…2 more days to order in the shop for Holiday arrival. Enjoy!

*Photo filtered with Eye Candy actions.