Joy in the Journey
Hello stampers and happy Monday to you. Today I want to talk to you about joy in the journey. I realize that it has been more than two weeks since I have blogged and an absence like that hasn’t happened for a long time! A lot has happened in the last few weeks. Let me tell you about it, perhaps you can relate.
The Many Hats of a Woman
Now I am not talking about real hats, although I have quite a few of those as well, not only because I love hats, but because I really need to keep the sun off my face. Vitilago and sun are not good companions. I’m talking about all the roles and commitments that we have to juggle. For me it’s mom, oma, daughter, sister and fiancée as well as friend and upline.
Traveling during COVID is a privilege but it also means lots of quarantining. On June 24 I was out of quarantine. That meant I could finally visit my parents and I could hold my grandchildren. We squeezed in an “oma day” and I had a lovely overnight visit with my oldest daughter. At the beginning of July Rachel my youngest, was finally able to move back to Ottawa. We packed up the car (actually she did that all on her own) and we stopped by for a goodbye visit to my parents and made the long drive to our capital city. Sadly there were no fireworks on Parliament Hill largely due to the residential school tragedies that have come to light. I was supposed to go on to Montreal to visit my second oldest daughter, but that ended up not working out. The bonus to that is that I was able to have a longer visit with my parents and I could tackle some gardening projects for my mom.
The Challenges
In the background I was trying to figure out a way that I could travel to North Carolina and avoid the mandatory hotel quarantine. This meant flying out of Toronto and flying back into Detroit. I looked into an airport shuttle service as well as the train but neither option could get me to the airport on time and I had a mid-afternoon flight!! My daughter-in-law ended up accompanying me in my vehicle which she drove back to her place. I arranged for a cab ride back to the border on the way home and had friends ready to pick me up in Windsor. It was enough to make your head spin!!
At the end of this journey I discovered that I could have arranged a cab from Detroit to pick me up in Chatham so I could have flown out of Detroit all along. So much for the myth that the borders are closed. Suffice it to say that there wasn’t much joy in this journey, but there was lots of joy in the stay in North Carolina!
Joy in the Journey
So what am I talking about if there wasn’t much joy in the journey? Well, thankfully I am talking about the bigger picture, the joy in the journey of life. I came across a great quote by Joanna Gaines:
“Consider the way we begin a new year, thinking about the goals we want to achieve, asking ourselves where we want to be at the end of that year, at the end of five years, at the end of 10 years. The last scene of a movie, the final page of a book the finished meal on the table – we judge a lot of things by how they turn out.
And through all of this it seems like we’ve learned to glorify the outcome of something far more than the defining moment that got us there: the spark that caught our heart’s interest in the first place or even the beauty of all that happened in between – the courage and belief and intention it took to pick up our brush and paint, only to repaint the very next day. I can see how I’ve judged my own commitments this way, forgetting that all things are shaped during the journey. That is the essential part.”
Type A
I am a bit of a Type A personality. I can be driven and competitive and that means that sometimes I do lose the joy in the journey and that makes me sad. These past few weeks have allowed me to refocus, to re-energize and to take a step back. Sometimes you have to let something go in order to find it. Covid has been a challenge for small business owners including me. I have tried new technology and am pleased with what I have learned. What I am not pleased with is the numbers and the reason is that I simply can’t understand them. I am going to be super vulnerable and transparent here so please be kind. By doing this I hope you can shed some light on this topic for me and perhaps even point me in the right direction.
YouTube Mystery
For the past year or so I have been posting regularly on my YouTube channel. I have 3690 subscribers which makes me very happy. The part that mystifies me is that I often have less than 100 views. I would love so much to change that but I have no idea how but I need to let it go because it is robbing me of my joy in creating and sharing. The mystery is that when I was just starting on Youtube I had more viewers per video than I do now. The only thing I can think of is that there are a lot more people now using this platform and maybe it is just saturated. Who knows? All I know is that I need to let it go!
On Saturday I was in my stamp room all day making beautiful cards and I would like to share them with you today. These cards will be the feature of my August virtual coffee and a card class as well as an in person class on Tuesday August 17.
Measure of Love Cards
I was so pleased with these cards and then I realized that there are five Tuesdays in August and I made one card for each Tuesday so I can do a video tutorial for each card on YouTube! Here is card number five.
This card was inspired by The Kitchen Table Stamper. I didn’t have the tags dies so I used a punch instead and drew around the hole with a Black Blends! Here is her blog.
This card was inspired by Cheri Stojcovich. Here is her blog post.
This last card was inspired by fellow Canadian demonstrator Tina Zinck. Here is her blog post.
How to Get these Cards
I am excited to now be able to offer you three options for these cards.
- $25 for just the card kit including postage.
- $50 for the card kit and the stamp set including postage.
- In person class on Tuesday August 16 with both of these options.
Please remember that my card kits cannot include any stamped images so you will need the stamp set to complete them as shown.
More Joy in the Journey
In order to have more joy in my journey, I will only be blogging once a week for the foreseeable future. I do love writing but I love stamping more and I am hoping to do more spontaneous videos. As always I treasure your feedback. If you want to add a little joy to your journey, check out my tutorials page for some instant gratification. You can also choose a free tutorial with a $60 purchase. I hope you have a super day and I wish you joy in your journey.
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