A Season of Change

I’m starting a new habit…

It’s a Tuesday morning, I’ve just sat down with a tea at my desk and searched ‘Office Music’ on Spotify. Queue ‘relaxing background music for work’, in other words I now feel like I should be sitting at a spa being pampered.

In recent years I’ve discovered that I am truly a creative at heart, I love being able to create whether it’s designing brands, putting together pretty floral bouquets from my garden, indulging in the little details that make an epic party, I love it all. What many may not know is that I actually majored in English when I finished high school. A major in English and a minor in History, anticipating applying to teachers college from there. Oh how happy I am that I followed other paths, all of which have led me to where I am today.

I bring up my major in English because my love for the English language is also a huge creative outlet for me. I love to write. I love to put my thoughts on paper (or a computer in this digital era), and I often find I can express myself so much better. If you follow me on social media, you’ll know it’s a rarity for me to ever have a short caption with my posts. I love writing. And I’ve also missed it.

Okay. Hold on. I need to change this music, or I may fall asleep typing this.

‘Chill Hits’ playlist - that’s better.

Back to writing. You’re going to see more of it.

Every New Years Eve I write a word down that will be my mantra for the entire year going forward, a word that I can continually lean on and think back to what I need more of for the year ahead. My word for 2023 was ‘grace’, as in ‘give yourself grace’, I needed that mantra as a mother, as a business owner, as a wife, as someone trying to navigate all of the constant illnesses going through our home, and the lack of work life balance that has been my life since I started this business. But the word I had for 2022 also never left, it’s almost like it has been imprinted in my mind and that word was ‘intentional’.

The word ‘intentional’ means that the people I choose to surround myself with are intentional; the work I chose to say ‘yes’ to is intentional and it aligns with what I want to do as a designer. That word is packed with meaning and continues to be at the forefront of how I make decisions, and it also comes into play when I consider writing. I have been longing for some intentional time/space where I don’t necessarily have an agenda but I can creatively carve out time to put my thoughts out there (I have a lot that I want to share).

So welcome to ‘My Curated Thoughts’, where I am hoping to take one morning a week to sit down and take up to one hour to put together a new blog post about a subject that I am passionate about. I hope you enjoy reading them. I hope you look forward to them. And if you don’t that’s okay, I am doing this for me, I am longing to create in a way that doesn’t render results, but is simply for pure joy.

Today’s subject: A Season of Change

My son has entered Grade One and my daughter started Junior Kindergarten. For the first time in over 6 years, my house is quiet during the day. Just my office pup Finn, my questionable choice of Spotify Playlists and myself.

Yesterday I was sending out a proposal and my existing proposal template has a ‘Meet the Designer’ write up:

That last part got me all choked up because I thought to myself, well I guess I need to alter that… My two kiddos are now at school and I don’t have that constant background noise.

I would be lying if I said I’m not relishing in having this time to myself. This change is welcome, and it’s already helping me feel better work / life balance, while allowing me to be productive in a way that doesn’t come with mom guilt. I have zero regrets having my kids home with me over the years, and I’m forever grateful that I’ve been able to work from home, on hours that I can adjust to my lifestyle and family’s needs.

That being said I also have to remind myself that it’s normal to be happy about the change, and sad for a period of life that is over. I can say I love having this time to myself during the day, and also miss little feet coming into my office asking if we could go outside for a walk. Crap - that just brought on a tear.

I miss my little ones during the day, but I am so excited for this next chapter. I have had a long term goal for awhile now, and this creative outlet is going to scratch the surface of that goal - I’ll reevaluate in a few months from now and see if it still brings me joy and pivot (I hate that word) if I need to.

Just a friendly reminder - change can be good, change can be hard, change can be emotional, and it can also be a great reminder of a previous chapter that you already survived and you now get to reflect upon. Thanks for being here.

Much Love,

Amber xo