I woke up today feeling crappy. Which is no surprise, because I went to bed last night feeling crappy. Which is also no surprise...because I'm not sure I can recall the last time I really rested.
Coming back from my father's memorial service on the 24th with a lingering sadness. Realizing that I won't be able to attend my friend's memorial service in late July. Planning for an unexpected destination wedding in August (as well as a destination bridal shower). My mother is coming for a visit (also in August). My SIL and BIL were here for a week and left last Friday. Tonight I leave for five days in San Francisco. Trying to continue making jewelry in all that mess, constantly feeling like I can't stay on top of everything (anything!). Having the a/c out in our house (where I work) for two days (that was the week before last, but it's no fun working with a hot torch when it's hot inside).
I'm kind of wiped. I realized that I was dangerously close to burnout with the jewelry right before we left for Arizona. So it was good to take a break from the studio, but it wasn't for uplifting, relaxing reasons. When I travel to Arizona, as I just did, and all the times I went last year while Dad was still alive, it goes like this:
- Fly to Phoenix, pick up rental car, drive to friends' house. Interact with friends. Stay over at friends' house. Unpack for one night, then pack up again and head to Prescott the next day.
- Stay over at Mom's house. Unpack for 1-3 nights, try to adjust to altitude, interact with family.
- Pack up again and drive to Phoenix. Stay over at friends' house. Unpack for one night, then pack again, return rental car, fly home. Go back to work.
There's not a lot of downtime in this scenario. There's flying (always stressful), driving, talking with friends and family, packing and unpacking, more driving and flying.
I don't begrudge my visits last year at all, or this most recent one, but they're draining. And then I come home and work like crazy in the studio. And I go to bed at night and sometimes I just play games on the iPad until I fall asleep, because I'm problem solving all day and just don't want to think about anything once I'm done.
I thought that this year, with less travel, and less festivals, would be an improvement on last year's craziness. In some ways, it has been. I've been finding a rhythm to my studio days, and my studio work. But I still can't seem to manage everything. And travel is just taking everything out of me (oh, and grieving? That, too).
I'm not sure what the answer is...meditation? Yoga? NOT trying to go to every event, and accommodate everyone? Probably a mix of all of the above, to start. At least this morning, I gave myself permission to get a late start in the studio - without feeling guilty. This is part of the point of RUNNING MY OWN business, right? Flexible hours and all that. I guess I'd just like to feel like I'm not RUNNING quite so much. Figuring that out is going to take a little longer though...
In the meantime, I fly to SF tonight - it should have been at 11 *a.m.* today, but somehow Brett and I overlooked the fact that he booked me for 11 p.m....so I will arrive around 3 a.m Eastern time. Eep! Tuesday morning will be a little rough! But it's likely my last vacation for the year, so I'm going to make the most of it. It seems like I never have a "good time" to travel for pleasure - so much work to do in the studio - but I think I'm not going to be making any good work if I don't take a REAL break now and then.
So I will leave you with some goodies I was able to finish recently:
Chrysocolla. There are supposed to be two pair, but the other set of stones isn't ready to play nice. : )
These and the pendant below are part of a grouping of boulder-y turquoise stones I set recently. I call them "Waterblooms" because they remind me of flowers floating on the water. Beautifully contrasted, really unusual turquoises.
Two pair of Royston turquoise earrings - the first pair, that I mentioned in my prior blog post, already sold:
And I'm having a hard time letting them go. I have to mail them today...but I'm not ready. Sometimes I get a little *too* attached to my gemstones...
And these, just finished yesterday:
These are just a few of the new pieces listed on Etsy and on the Blue Piranha site. Feel free to have fun looking at all the new pretties! I'll be back next week!
Coming back from my father's memorial service on the 24th with a lingering sadness. Realizing that I won't be able to attend my friend's memorial service in late July. Planning for an unexpected destination wedding in August (as well as a destination bridal shower). My mother is coming for a visit (also in August). My SIL and BIL were here for a week and left last Friday. Tonight I leave for five days in San Francisco. Trying to continue making jewelry in all that mess, constantly feeling like I can't stay on top of everything (anything!). Having the a/c out in our house (where I work) for two days (that was the week before last, but it's no fun working with a hot torch when it's hot inside).
I'm kind of wiped. I realized that I was dangerously close to burnout with the jewelry right before we left for Arizona. So it was good to take a break from the studio, but it wasn't for uplifting, relaxing reasons. When I travel to Arizona, as I just did, and all the times I went last year while Dad was still alive, it goes like this:
- Fly to Phoenix, pick up rental car, drive to friends' house. Interact with friends. Stay over at friends' house. Unpack for one night, then pack up again and head to Prescott the next day.
- Stay over at Mom's house. Unpack for 1-3 nights, try to adjust to altitude, interact with family.
- Pack up again and drive to Phoenix. Stay over at friends' house. Unpack for one night, then pack again, return rental car, fly home. Go back to work.
There's not a lot of downtime in this scenario. There's flying (always stressful), driving, talking with friends and family, packing and unpacking, more driving and flying.
I don't begrudge my visits last year at all, or this most recent one, but they're draining. And then I come home and work like crazy in the studio. And I go to bed at night and sometimes I just play games on the iPad until I fall asleep, because I'm problem solving all day and just don't want to think about anything once I'm done.
I thought that this year, with less travel, and less festivals, would be an improvement on last year's craziness. In some ways, it has been. I've been finding a rhythm to my studio days, and my studio work. But I still can't seem to manage everything. And travel is just taking everything out of me (oh, and grieving? That, too).
I'm not sure what the answer is...meditation? Yoga? NOT trying to go to every event, and accommodate everyone? Probably a mix of all of the above, to start. At least this morning, I gave myself permission to get a late start in the studio - without feeling guilty. This is part of the point of RUNNING MY OWN business, right? Flexible hours and all that. I guess I'd just like to feel like I'm not RUNNING quite so much. Figuring that out is going to take a little longer though...
In the meantime, I fly to SF tonight - it should have been at 11 *a.m.* today, but somehow Brett and I overlooked the fact that he booked me for 11 p.m....so I will arrive around 3 a.m Eastern time. Eep! Tuesday morning will be a little rough! But it's likely my last vacation for the year, so I'm going to make the most of it. It seems like I never have a "good time" to travel for pleasure - so much work to do in the studio - but I think I'm not going to be making any good work if I don't take a REAL break now and then.
So I will leave you with some goodies I was able to finish recently:
Chrysocolla. There are supposed to be two pair, but the other set of stones isn't ready to play nice. : )
These and the pendant below are part of a grouping of boulder-y turquoise stones I set recently. I call them "Waterblooms" because they remind me of flowers floating on the water. Beautifully contrasted, really unusual turquoises.
Two pair of Royston turquoise earrings - the first pair, that I mentioned in my prior blog post, already sold:
And I'm having a hard time letting them go. I have to mail them today...but I'm not ready. Sometimes I get a little *too* attached to my gemstones...
And these, just finished yesterday:
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