Time for a Little Caretaking

As most of you know, not only am I an entrepreneur and CEO of a growing bath + body business, but I’m also a mom and a home educator.  My days are often busy, but I don’t declare that to make myself look superior; it just is what it is, and most days, what may look like busy work to some people is productive hobby time for me.  With all these responsibilities and duties, there must be time to completely unplug, relax, and unwind away from it all.  A little over a week ago, Mary, Vice President of Product Development and COO of Girly Arts Made by ME, and I struck off to the beach for the weekend.

This was exactly what we needed.  You may have caught my write-up last week about the impressive guest care skills of Garison at The Winds Resort at Ocean Isle Beach.  That whole weekend was exactly what these Corporate Divas needed.  Just picture white powder beaches with warm water, lush tropical landscaping, and restful moments reading in a hammock under waving palm trees.  Yeah, it was that good.  There were cold beverages, good eats, and restful nights’ sleep accented by a friendly, accommodating staff.

That picture-perfect postcard that mocks you with, "It's beautiful.  Wish you were here."
That picture-perfect postcard that mocks you with, “It’s beautiful. Wish you were here.”
A peek at some of that luscious tropical landscaping The Winds is known for.
A peek at some of that luscious tropical landscaping The Winds is known for.

We enjoyed our time immensely and returned home feeling loose and mellow.  I truly haven’t experienced that much calm time in forever, and it was amazing!

It’s important, now that we’re home, to maintain that peaceful feeling, to take moments to do things that help promote a calm spirit.  Knitting is my mini-vacation of choice these days.  Studies have actually shown that knitting helps lower blood pressure.  I find having a cat lying beside me also helps me feel incredibly relaxed.  Between the two of these things, most nights it’s a serious struggle getting upstairs to bed, because I’m half asleep with my knitting needles in my hand.  My current project is a lace shawl.  This is it in process:

Sneak peek of the black and sequin lace shawl I'm knitting to go with a red dress.  And jeans.  And...
Sneak peek of the black and sequin lace shawl I’m knitting to go with a red dress. And jeans. And…

This is our secret for chilling out and relaxing, and in the process, we returned home with grand ideas and fresh energy for taking care of orders going into the busy holiday season.  How do you recharge your battery?

I Quit!

CHOC Walk 2009
CHOC Walk 2009 (Photo credit: Denise Cross Photography) – Thought this was appropriate, as one of our movies was “Aladdin.”

Last week, I quit.  I quit work for the most part.  I quit the business for a week.  In fact, I quit everything but motherhood.  My older daughter was at camp, leaving me home alone with my younger daughter for a whole week.  What a treat, as we haven’t gotten to do this in about a year!

We did all sorts of fun things!  We went to the library and got books.  We went to the beach with my mom.  We got haircuts.  We watched movies – lots of movies.  We read books.  And we cuddled.  That was the best part, that cuddling.

I checked my business email once a day, and the Wee Princess and I went through boxes and boxes of soaps to parcel out which ones we’d be donating.  Then she helped me organize those in my storage space.  I made phone calls, did housework, and made products while she napped,  A couple of days, I napped, too.  So, I didn’t quit completely; it wasn’t a planned break, so I didn’t think it would be fair to my customers just to close up shop completely for the week.

The break was restorative and a great lead-in to beginning school this week.  It taught me something valuable, too; it taught me that I can, in fact, give myself a break from running my business full-tilt, and the world won’t come to an end.  It reminded me that my goal isn’t to build a lasting legacy through my business.  My primary goal is to raise two kind, compassionate, giving, loving, brilliant daughters.  Teaching them those character traits is the legacy that’s most important to me.