08/31/2021
can we bring back the J O Y ?
over two years ago, when I took my maternity leave I had no clue that shortly after giving birth to my third babe the whole world would shut down. I certainly didn’t think that at that moment we would still be navigating this pandemic almost two years later. What I did know, was that I was in desperate need of a break. I was completely burnt out. Head full of ideas and passion, body and heart… done.
When I started this little company almost seven years ago. It was just some scribbles in a notebook, a lot of creativity, and a hell of a lot of gumption. I didn’t know then what it would grow in to. How many amazing opportunities I would experience and people’s most special days I would be a part of. Two babies later, three moves, closing a store front, a pandemic, homeschool, three kids home, breastfeeding, trying to be a wife, and navigating the most difficult postpartum season I have ever experienced to date… here we are.
So much pruning.
Sometimes to get to the heart of what brings us joy. What we are called to do. We have to become so bare. We have to shed so much. It’s painful. And then of course, the buds start to bloom. The sun starts to shine. It smells a little sweeter.
J O Y
there were many reasons why at the start of my maternity leave I was feeling so completely unhappy with my work. Missed my kids so much,… (“working from home / stay at home mom” doesn’t really work if you’re having to hire baby sitter after baby sitter just to meet the demands of your schedule) Pulled in a million directions and had completely forgotten to take stock of what makes Lizzie tick.
What parts of her art, her creativity are worth sharing with others… and what parts are hers to keep?
What boundaries need to be set, and still provided something of value to others while providing for my family and being financially profitable?
Well you can’t get to the answers for any of that unless you can really sit with joy.
Joy is a funny thing. It isn’t the same as happiness. Joy is what you have if even during the difficult moments in life… the hiccups, the valleys, the rejection… you still can move forward. Continued below ⬇️
