Here I am again with a monthly link up with A Chronic Voice. As always, these prompts often ‘allow’ me to write a few things that don’t make a whole blog, but feel good to talk about. I especially appreciate these this month as my brain is overloaded with new business venture excitement!
Foreseeing
When the pandemic first became a ‘serious issue’ in this country, it took over my life as I have written about before and now I can’t say it’s much different to ‘normal’ life. I also could never have foreseen the opportunities of lockdown. I recently did a guest blog for Twitter friend, on the positives it has presented: I could not have foreseen the acceleration in mine and my partner’s musings of starting a business because of this crisis and I am not suggesting I can foresee it being an immediate huge success! I say this not because I don’t believe in the products, of course; we are making beautiful handcrafted items made mostly out of wood which I am very proud to wear or use and sell. But these are not essential and there is less spare cash in people’s pockets than there was before. I don’t know what I foresee in terms of success but it would mean such a positive outlook to my future if this became part of it. If you’d like to take a look at what we have made, please check us out on Facebook, Etsy and/or Pinterest.
Panicking
While I am super excited about all this business creation malarky, I am also panicking slightly that my health won’t cope. Having chronic migraine where I can do some activities means on the one side I am very grateful for not being bed bound, but on the other it continually tempts me to do too much. Where I can get enthusiastic about an activity, idea, conversation, I can get an increase in symptoms. Panicking will only make things worse so I will put everything I have learnt about pacing and saying ‘no’ – to myself mostly, at the moment – to hope that I can keep things on the level as much as I ever can.
Accessing
I’m used to access being a bit more difficult, from the last year of my home being a narrowboat; having to plan in when I order meds for when we’re going through somewhere big enough to have a pharmacy, to finding the postcode for a canal bridge to get food shopping delivered. Now, based at the mother in law’s, we have access to a postal address which makes food shopping (when we can get a delivery slot) and other deliveries much easier. I’m also meant to have a neurology appointment in July but I have no idea whether I’ll be accessing that or not….
Soothing
I always find blogging soothing, and these prompts make me have to think a bit less which is always helpful! However, with the business now started and lockdown looking like it could ease in the near future, I’m not sure where that will leave my time and energy for blogging. I don’t want to miss out on this opportunity to soothe but at the same time it is definitely unwise to push myself to do more; to beat myself up that I haven’t written a blog for here for two weeks (as is the the case now). If you’ve been in a similar situation I’d really value your thoughts on what has been a good way forward for you.
That’s it from me for now, please do have a look at some other linkups from other fabulous bloggers (scroll down to below the prompts). As always, comments below are welcomed.
A Boat Time 
Thanks for your latest instalment, Naomi. The business venture sounds an exciting challenge
and I wish you well with the commercial side of it, as well as managing your symptoms.
PB
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post! I love when people make the best out of difficult situations, and it sounds like you have done just that with your new business venture, Good luck with it 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Louise!
LikeLike
Wishing you much success in your new venture! The walking sticks are beautiful! Truly works of art!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the walking sticks! On down the line, I want to get one. They’re beautiful. Followed your Etsy shop.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah that’s so lovely to hear! So great when you make these things yourself. If there’s anything in particular you’re looking for or you think we might be cruising near you and want to be kept informed of where we are please do just send us a message😎
LikeLike
Ooh, your business venture sounds very exciting! It’s nice to hear something good emerging from the pandemic. Remember that people can’t spend money on socializing nowadays so they might well be interested in buying your products – shopping makes a lot of people happy! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is true! and they still want to send presents to people etc. Thankyou for checking in here and the ‘shop’ 🙂
LikeLike
Naomi your designs are fantastic. I can’t get over how beautiful the canes and pendants are. It will be such a great venture for you both. I will you all the luck and support you need as you go on!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thankyou thankyou! Both are more down to Tom- the sticks 100%him, he has such a god eye for both finding the right ones and working with them. Your words and thoughts are very much appreciated 🙂
LikeLike
If my pops was still alive I’d get him one he’d appreciate fine art like those
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Naomi!
I also really love these link-ups for allowing me to express things that I wouldn’t normally write about. It’s so interesting to see everyone’s perspective with these prompts.
Congratulations on your new business venture. It sounds amazing and I’ve always felt that the best part about creating something for a business is that it seems to be ‘less stressful’. Your walking sticks are gorgeous and I would buy one in a heartbeat if I had the money to do it. I’ve just found your page on FB. Thanks so much for the link. I hope this brings you peace AND success!
I hear you about business being stressful, but when you find the right idea, I’ve found it a bit easier to cope. I never ever stress about flower and arrangement orders. I really look forward to doing them and find that if it’s for a wedding or a really special occasion, I get a little happiness bump from making someone’s special day seem more special. I hope you see this when people purchase from you and share how they are enjoying something that has been handmade with love. What a wonderful idea! Congratulations again!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Carrie, thanks so much for checking in. It’s true i don’t find it too ‘stressful’ as such but even just doing admin for an hour is a ‘spoon’ to think about.
I’m so glad you like the sticks! Lovely to hear this. We need to figure out postage to the world as well but that would make things more expensive again unfortunately. Tom has just been developing some basic straight sticks that can go for a lower price so if you lived in the UK it might be financially viable…
We sold a few on eBay a couple of years ago and some great feedback then and that gave us that happiness bump 🙂
LikeLike
Hi, Naomi! The chronic illness community is very forgiving of lapses in blog posts and interaction. We all go through rough patches, and times when we need to leave our blogs for a bit. We all need to remind ourselves that it’s OKAY to do so when we need to.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thankyou! I will try to remember that🤗
LikeLike
Hello Naomi, it’s great to see you participating for another month! Congratulations on officially setting up your own little business, your creations are fantastic!! You are so creative, and such a clever use of recycling too. Will definitely have a look at your sites and all your amazing creations.
Take care x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah thankyou! But it’s really my partner who’s so creative. I make the button earrings but that’s just a case of sifting through the collection then sticking them on!! Thanks for checking in 😀
LikeLike
Hey Naomi – so glad to hear that you’ve got such an exciting business planned! I’d say celebrate it! If you need to take a break while blogging, you do what you gotta do. Then again, if the work is primarily Tom’s, it may be that you will be able to find a balance that lets you post regularly after a while. New ventures take energy, creating new things takes spoons, and sometimes when the setup is complete, the maintenance and more minor adjustments are less demanding than they first seem.
I do hope you keep posting – I’ve been enjoying your updates!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thankyou for checking in and your kind words. I do most of the admin and that can take just as long! But yes, the setup was definitely more spoon-consuming as it was more urgent whereas now I can pace more easily.
I’ve managed to keep posting so far so 🤞I can keep it up as I find it soothing. The link ups I think I’ll manage for sure 😀
LikeLike