It’s one thing to tell myself that I won’t do an event. I can list the reasons why it’s a good idea to skip it. I can identify all the affirmations of the decision. The real test comes, however, in the moment: How will I feel knowing the event is happening and I’m not doing it?
Friday, the feeling that I was doing the right thing in not vending Saturday’s event continued. I felt so relieved! I commented to Mom later that that must have been what she felt the first day after she retired. She commented, “It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of you.” Yes!!! That’s it exactly! Friday, the girls and I ran some errands around town, and I know I had the biggest, dopiest smile on my face. We went to the bank to withdraw some money. The teller took my check and started pulling out bills. Then she looked at the check again. She looked at me with some confusion. Then she looked at the check yet again. She said, “You usually get more money than this. Are you doing the festival?” I replied, “No, which is why I’ve got this huge smile on my face.” It was getting almost comical.
Friday night, I was sitting on the sofa knitting and watching TV with the Swirl God. I said, “You see this? You see what I’m doing? Or, more specifically, what I’m not doing?” He didn’t quite get it. I said, “I’m sitting. And knitting. And watching reruns of TV shows I missed the first time. I’m not sitting at the table labeling a bunch of stuff. And later I’ll be heading to bed at a decent time, and maybe I’ll even sleep in in the morning.” My best friend who usually waits up with me while I’m doing my last-minute show prep was also looped into the giddiness.
The day of the festival arrived, and I did, in fact, sleep in. I pretty much slept until the start of the festival. Then it was on! I made cinnamon roll waffles for breakfast, then I started potatoes for potato salad. Long story short, I made potato salad and a batch of oat bran zucchini chocolate chunk muffins before lunch, and made a batch of pickles afterwards. The girls and their dad went to the festival, but they were back in about an hour; it was just too hot. By all accounts, attendance was down and people weren’t parting with their money easily. It also seems like it was another one like last year when it died 4 hours before the end.
It felt a little bad not being at the festival, not seeing one of my private label customers (another vendor), and potentially not serving my repeat customers. But only a little. I got over it. It just felt so good all weekend! There was the happy, relieved feeling of all week. There was the family time before the girls scattered for the week. There was having the energy to hang in until late with my best friend after his mom got hurt. There was the simple sweetness of celebrating Father’s Day on Saturday with a movie and a special dinner. And then there was Father’s Day itself, the first in a few years where I actually got to see my dad on Father’s Day.
Telling myself no to this event was risky; I stood to lose a good deal of potential revenue. I gained so much more, though, far more than that money is worth.