A remarkable Evolutionary Process is happening to me as I spend more Time Sourcing to Sell than to Keep. I'm now able to Let Go of massive quantities of my Personal Collections out of our Home as well without having any Emotional Attachment about the Process whatsoever!!! It's becoming a Pure Business Decision perfectly Coordinated with the Desire to be at a place in our Lives to be Ready to Downsize considerably. So a mass Exodus of Treasures Collected over the Years is now taking place as the Evolution of Dawn now goes into Hyperdrive and Amps up!!!
Last Night it was the mass Exodus of an extensive Milkglass Collection... I still really Like it and just got to the point we weren't Using or Displaying it as much anymore, so it was Time to Purge it. So Showroom #133 in particular now has some Wonderful White Collectibles to go with the Black and Red Hues that predominate the Showroom. One thing I always liked about Milkglass was that it goes with anything and everything and is Sturdy enough for everyday use and has always been reasonably Priced to be able to Collect and Use.
I'll Attempt to get at least a few Images of it once I get it all in the Showroom and Styled... but doing all this in the midst of a Big Sale has it's particular Challenges. Prepping Inventory takes so much Time even though the Decision Making Process of what to Let Go of has not been Agonizing or Time Consuming at all, which is a Huge Change for Yours Truly. As I continue to Evolve I'm able to not let Emotions get in the way of Editing and Purging efficiently now and it's so Empowering. It also makes the Process not stagnate or stall anymore, so I feel as though a LOT is being Accomplished now in Record Time and more is going out rather than ending up in the "I Don't Know Yet" piles!!!
And as the Showrooms Evolve and constantly Change as Inventory is Sold Off it's been more Fun than Collecting for my Personal Pleasure and Home Displays anyway. There's not that constant anxiety ridden dilemma of "Where Can I Put It" and there's not the Saturation Point a Home can end up with as Collections expand over the Years and adequate Display Space runs out. In a Retail Environment the Found Treasures Turn rather quickly so there's always a Space to Fill and so the Thrill Of The Hunt doesn't have the same Down Side as when purely Collecting for yourself.
I can Source more of an Eclectic Mix of things than I might for my own Collections... knowing that would look Cool in the Showroom and might Appeal to my Customers. I'm Learning what my Customers Desire and Hunting for it has Expanded the Thrill Of The Hunt for me actually as I seek out Specific Inventory that has been Requested.
Finding New Homes for every single Old Globe and Map... and Displaying them En Masse has been a Joy for me because I Love Styling with them and Sourcing them, but had no Room of this Old House left to be able to do that particular Theme that I'd been dying to Create!
Because how many times have you been Inspired to try a New Style or Theme but not had a Personal Space to do it in? I'd need several Properties to be able to Experiment with all the Styling Options, Aesthetics and Themes I'd like to Decorate with just for the Joy of it... but might not necessarily want to Live With in our own Home or have sufficient Room to do it right. Or feel too Indulgent to start over with Decorating our Home, even a single Room of it... but for Retail, well, it can be Justified when it Turns a Profit! *Winks*
And yes, I do Enjoy that extra stream of Income coming in again... I Missed having my own stream of Income coming in... and though this isn't quite at Career Earning Potential yet, it could be... and that is the Ultimate Goal... to make as much or more at this eventually as I ever did in my Corporate Lives... but totally Enjoy the Journey and Time spent dedicated to it, because it's a Passion and not just a Career move.
Because being on a Fixed Income for so many Years after Forced Retirements due to Health and Personal Reasons had really put a cramp on our Style and what we had been Accustomed to. Increased Medical Expenses and Raising a second Family had also caused me to re-assess the ability to actually enter into Full Retirement, it wasn't going to meet us at our Point of Need for The Man to be Medically Retired and me to fully Retire from Working outside the Home to be a full time unpaid Caregiver to them all. And if something doesn't work then I have to re-work it so that it does.
And who knew that it would turn out to be a Blessing In Disguise to be almost Forced into Stepping Out In Faith due to Circumstances beyond my Control, FINALLY to Pursue a Passion and Dream I'd Nurtured on the Canvas of my Imagination for Years but had previously been too Timid or too Busy with Careers to actually Incubate and Give Birth to?!?
It's almost as if The Lord had Intentionally Closed all those other Doors and made it so that I couldn't Open them any kind of way or Turn Back, in order to FINALLY HAVE TO step through the Door I'd been Longing to see what lay beyond and would Feed my Soul, my stifled Dreams and my Secret Longings and Desires!!! He knows me well after all, I'm Fearless about many things... but then there are those other things and those Changes that I'm Timid about until Pushed in that Direction and made to 'Make It Work'... which I always manage to do... but it's not always Comfortable because it is not always Familiar so the Unknowns can flash 'Risk' and the potential for possible Failures.
I'm slowly, ever so slowly, Learning to become more of a Risk Taker and not just be Settling for a Sure Thing because it has that sometimes False sense of Security. In this day and age you see I'm also Learning there's no such thing as a Sure Thing anymore... Times are Changing. Working for one's Self is actually more Stable than working for somebody else who probably has no Loyalty to you no matter how Amazing your Work Ethic and what you bring to the Table... and can turn your World upside down on a dime, especially the Older Worker! I don't want anybody to have that much Control over our Future or our Destiny.
I can't even have a Peace about working for a Company anymore when I see how many of my Friends and Contemporaries are being Replaced, Let Down, Let Go and Screwed Over in the Workforce, even if they've been there for Decades and were Loyal to a Fault to their Employers! Some may never work again unless they make the decision to work for themselves, because they're at that Season of Life where they're too Young to Retire and too Old to be considered an Asset by most Companies and Corporations. Some now have Age Related Pre-Existing Medical Conditions and find themselves Uninsurable... which is scary indeed!!!
To me it is very Sad, because they're Good People and have Worked hard and smart all their Lives... but they never saw it coming and thought they had Job Security and Promised Benefits or Contractual Agreements that no longer Exist or were drastically Changed and not in their favor!!! Some are losing everything and their Lives may never be the same, nor their Confidence or Countenance as the Struggle Changes them and wears them down over Time.
So it is Important to Learn to Adapt and Improvise because if you just keep on Living... Life quite often will hand you something you weren't exactly Prepared for as well as you thought you might have been... if at all?!? I know we weren't Prepared for what came our way and for how long it would last... and I was a Diligent Planner and always had backup Plans in place and my usual Excess so that we always had something to fall back on during Hard Times. Putting my Dependancy upon the Lord was perhaps my Wisest Life Decision ever though... because whatever or whoever you place your Dependancy upon ultimately Controls you... and I'd rather that be my Lord and not anything or anybody in this World!!! I Trust Him completely... everything and everyone else, not so much... because sh** happens, lets face it!
Sometimes a sh**load of sh** happens in fact and that sorts folks out FAST! My Dear Ole Dad always said nothing sorts folks out quite like Trouble, especially extended Trouble, he was a very Wise Man! You'll often be Surprised at what and who is conspicuous by it and their absence during a Crisis... but the Good News is that whatever or whoever is LEFT, is all you ever needed anyway... and the chaff has been sifted out of your Life and given more Clarity to what and who matters.
I have a total Peace about what Direction I'm taking now and who is in my Corner and our Inner Circle... the rest that has fallen away is Okay. And as I continue to shed what isn't necessary I'm feeling Lighter and less Burdened Maintaining anything that really I don't need or sucks away at my Energy Force, either Stuff or Relationally. Cutting loose excess baggage is very Therapuetic and High Maintenace goes away bit by bit.
Things aren't skewed or imbalanced when you start weeding stuff out of your Life and I'm to that point where I'm going for myself and meeting myself at my own Point of Need and not expecting anyone else to step in or step up and do that, lest they can't or won't. Often Women put themselves last as they tend to the Needs of everyone and everything else... so I've found that a lot of us are Sacrificial until we reach that Season of Life where we have to finally go for us before it's too late to. That's the Season I must be in and self-preservation is starting to really set in big time! It HAS to!!! *LOL*
Having a nice Home or Dream Home is nice... but if there isn't anyone able to help you take care of it then you have to decide what you can take care of by yourself adequately enough that it won't suck the Life right out of you trying to Maintain it all. If we didn't still have a Family and need the Room, I'd be Okay even downsizing the Property I have and I never thought I'd say that because I do Love this Old House... but it is a lot of upkeep and I'm now the only Caretaker of it!
And just allow The Force and The Man to do what they're capable of without unrealistic expectations. Instilling Levity for the sake of Sanity has helped a lot for me... when I'm Feeling Overwhelmed and Under-equipped then we just take some Silly Breaks to get Centered and keep our Calm. Last Night in the midst of massive Milkglass Exodus Inventory Process it was donning a Dreadlock Wig and Tam that we'd recently 'Picked' and seeing how everyone looked going Rasta? The G-Kid Force and I actually like Dreads, but don't want to Commit to trying them for Real. Princess T carried the Look off well I thought, and her hair wants to do this Naturally anyway, so who knows, Dreads could be in her Future?! *Winks*
Prince R tried the Rasta Look too over his "New Do" for the start of School... which will now be Revealed...
He is Fearless about Fashion and this was what he wanted... and we'd Agreed in advance that it's his hair so he could do whatever he wanted with it as part of his Birthday Gift from us. My Parents were always very Liberal about Fashion and Trends, if it wasn't Permanent they didn't sweat it and allowed us to not have to be in the proverbial 'Box' or have to 'Color Inside The Lines' to Conform... and that's how I chose to raise my Children and now these G-Kids we're Raising... though The Man was raised a lot more Traditional and so he's had to Embrace our Free Spirited outlook about such things over the Years. *Winks* Prince R is Delighted with his new hair and that's the Important Thing, having good Self Esteem and sense of Self so that you know who you are and Whose you are... and aren't just following the herd because it's Expected and Conforms.
We had a lot of Fun doing the "Mug Shot" Thing... he said he felt like we were doing Mug Shots and there was a lot of Laughter about that!!!
I Hope your Evolution is going well too my Friends... because we are always Evolving in our own ways and Seasons... it's just a matter of Time... Change is the only Constant...
Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian