My Internal Yarn Barf

It's a mess.  A colorful, jumbled mess.  It looks impossible, useless and worthless, but it's not.  Well, right now it is, but just like any bag of yarn post-cat attack, my thoughts just need some patience and time for me to sort them out, strand by strand, color by color, fiber by fiber.

This is what my real yarn barf
looked like

Business is slow this holiday season, and I know it's not just mine.  My shows had lower results than in previous years.  My Black Friday through Cyber Monday sales were slower.  No, I'm not whining; it is what it is.  Black Friday sales nationwide in all retail markets were lower this year.  Colleagues are reporting lower sales in all markets, and I'm both seeing and hearing how small, independent businesses are struggling right now.  Knowing how much my family depends on my income, the economic slow-down is rather frustrating and discouraging.  After talking to a small business owner of whom I think highly this past Saturday and hearing her story, I thought, There's a reason it's called an economic depression.

Early Friday morning, my paternal grandpa died.  He was very old and had lived a rich, blessed life, ended by a good death with his wife of 67 years by his side.  It's still hard to believe that I won't see him at Christmas.  The travel home for the memorial service was a necessity, though I had work waiting for me when I came home.

My mind kept spinning with that incessant question many people face this time of year:  "How are we going to afford presents for everyone?"  Then some quiet time with my youngest daughter brought the answer to me:  We focus on Jesus as the real reason behind the season, and the rest will fall into place.  Now I'm not dreading buying gifts; I'm anticipating with excitement the celebrations and seeing my family.

Financial realities mean I won't be able to afford to buy gifts for some very dear people in my circle.  In fact, my bestie and I agreed just to give each other cards, because I'm a total card person.  I had been dreading that conversation, but he and I are on the same page, so it's all good.

Time is getting away from me to get presents made.  There are lessons to teach, a business to run, decorations to put out and a home to make company-ready.  Juggling all this stuff is hard, but my re-reading of Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend has shown me that I need to put boundaries on my own time, budgeting my 24 hours wisely each day.

If you've gotten this far in this article, thanks for hanging in there with me as I've attempted to untangle my internal yarn barf.  Support your local small business.  All of us small businesses rely on loyal customers to help us support our families and our local communities.

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Why Integrity Matters

God hates cheating in the marketplace;
he loves it when business is aboveboard
Proverbs 11: 1, The Message

As a business owner who is a Christ follower, it's important to me that our business practices and ethics reflect my beliefs.  What does this look like?

First, this means we're open and honest in our product labeling.  Everything from the weight or volume on the front to the ingredients on the back is accurate to the best of our abilities.  (Sometimes, the listed weight might be less than what is actually there, but the FDA allows this.)  Our ingredients labels also reflect our commitment to honesty and full disclosure.  We list all our ingredients in our products, even those that may look "scary," like "sodium hydroxide" or various preservatives.

Second, doing business with integrity means being honest about our products.  We sell soaps and cosmetics,  not drugs.  We won't claim our products "heal" or "cure" or do anything else but get you clean, make you smell good and moisturize your skin.  The other thing we won't do is say our products are all natural if they are not.  Our products are artisan-made, but we sometimes use fragrance oils and preservatives that prevent them from being 100% natural.  We'll happily answer any questions about any of our ingredients.

Third, integrity means manufacturing safe products, even if it's not "trendy."  "All natural" is trendy, but all natural isn't always safe.  We'd rather forsake the trend in lieu of providing safe products.  Bottom line, death from sepsis from an improperly made product is not trendy.  Sure, we have all natural products, but we formulate those products to be completely safe, just as we do for our not all natural products.  We're open about which of our products fall into each category, and we will point you towards the products you're seeking.

How do you live out your faith in your business life?  What does that look like?

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What's your luxury?

Another conversation with my best friend led to today's post.  He's so inspiring!  Anyway...  What do you consider a luxury for you?

Today was the book fair at his daughter's school, and, predictably so, she had a list.  I know how much Dad and daughter both love books, and I remember book fairs when I was in school.  It was a bibliophile's paradise!  Her mom had likely told her "No" to a request for books, considering them "luxuries," and further conversation revealed that she likely considers reading at all a "luxury," even with such delights as free e-books and these great places called libraries.

Some of my favorite books.  Love me some Fitzgerald!

For me, too, books are a luxury.  However, reading is a necessity.  (When we moved, the first thing I located was the closest public library.  Grocery store, pharmacy and government offices were secondary.)  There's not just the buying of books, but there's also storing them.  Then, eventually, I'd have to move them.  That seems like a lot of trouble.  At the same time, I'll be the first to admit that my love of books would keep me from taking a vow of poverty.

I will only buy books, though, if I feel that they will enrich and enhance my life in a significant way.  I'll buy books on being a better business person or books that will teach me something new, but I'll borrow chick lit and classics.  I have boxes of books on business, theology, soapmaking and responsible financials.  These are all things that are important to me.

Are these books my only luxury, though?  No.  Artisan-made soap also is a luxury for me.  (Thank goodness I know how to make my own!)  Just as I can't imagine living life without a source of reading material, I also can't imagine tormenting my skin with synthetic detergent bars like I used to.  These are little things, but they make life more enjoyable to me.

What luxuries can you not live without on a daily basis?

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Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Wheatberry refers to the entire kernel of wheat except for the hull (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was talking with my best friend yesterday, and as we discussed things going on in his life, he said, "I know there's a rock and a hard place, and I'm right in between them."

It came to me in a flash, and I said, "When wheat berries are between a rock and hard place, they become flour.  You can't do a whole lot with wheat berries, but you can do a whole lot with flour."

He shot back, "But it's a painful process."

Five years ago, I wrote about how soap becomes, so we also become.  In talking to Bobby, I remembered this.  Gentle oils get brutalized chemically to create lovely, skin-nourishing soaps.  At the same time, the lye itself loses part of its core chemical identity (its highly basic pH) in the presence of the oils.  The reaction produces heat - a significant amount of it.  It's a vicious process.

Being between a rock and a hard place is also vicious and, as Bobby said, painful.  It's a change, and once we make that change, allow our circumstances to change us, we then have the potential to be transformed into something new and even more useful.  Once we make that change, though, we can never go back to the way we were.  My soaps can never go back to being water, oils, lye and fragrances, just like flour cannot become wheat berries ever again.

In summary, life happens, sometimes good, sometimes bad.  These life events often change us, and we can choose for ourselves if we're going to use our new selves to be useful and good, or if we're just going to whine and complain that we'll never again be the way we once were.

What changes have happened to you in your life?  How did those changes make you a better person?

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A Time to Breathe

All natural, 100% pure, vegan Snake Oil

It's done!  The insanity that was the month of June is behind me and now I can take a deep breath and relax for a little while, but only a little while.  Blueberry Fest was great, and this past weekend at ConTemporal was out of this world (many times, quite literally)!  What a fantastic event it was!

I had done everything I could to prepare myself ahead of time for ConTemporal, a three-day Steampunk convention in Raleigh.  I think I did pretty well.  I set small, manageable, consistent goals for myself for getting things done, and as long as I worked steadily and stuck to my to-do list, I was fine.  There was so much to do to prepare!  There were not only products to make, but there were displays to make and costumes to put together.  Whew!  Lots of hustle.

But now it's over.  I'll post pictures in another blog post.  For now, though, I'm giving attention to post-show recovery.  I've added all the new Steampunk products to my website and edited all the pictures I took at the show.  I have time to do housework again, catching up from last week.  I can now see the work that everyone else in the house is doing and appreciate it, because my eyes aren't clouded with my own tasks.  It all feels so great again!

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