Sarah*n*dipitous

Above the Clouds

It is interesting to think that when the weather seems in complete chaos, as it was in California when I arrived complete with tornadoes, mudslides, and pouring rain, that from above the storms systems and out of view way above is sunshine unabated. Our lives are so in tune with the immediate, the trials and tribulations of the moment below, that we forget that, although our personal raincloud is setting a gray pallor on our existence, it is a vortex, a pocket weather pattern that affects only us until we decide to share it with someone else in our proximity. I suppose if we kept our eyes affixed upward, we would know that the weather we experience isn't the way it always is, it is a temporal thing, something that is directed by the winds and not the absolute. I left my troubles at ground level and escaped up into the clouds, even if it was for only a few hours, it managed to put the happenings below in perspective. I do not live in the clouds nor can I simply ignore the things on the ground yet, I can understand that those storms, those bad weather days, they are merely a front not intended on being permanent but to teach me to appreciate the moments above the clouds a bit more.

 

Faces of CHA

CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) has always been about the people who "make it go" behind the scenes. These are the men and women who create, innovate, inspire, and pour themselves into their work. For so many of the people who attend and participate in CHA and their conventions, it has always been about a labor of love and following their passion. Granted, Crafting is a multi-Billion dollar industry and is thriving in spite of a recessionary market cycle, and proves that following your bliss can indeed be profitable as well. I suppose it is because people always find a way to create and make their own world as they live it. This year's Winter convention in Anaheim was truly an event to remember and the amazing people, the faces behind crafting and making things, they are the ones who make it so.

 
  

  

                    
 
 
 
  
 

Headlights

I cannot imagining traveling down the back roads around our house in a car, at night, and without the aid of headlights. The roads can be treacherous and the wildlife so unpredictable during the daytime and in full view that to face them under the cover of darkness unaided seems almost like a fool's quest dressed in a death wish. I suppose driving at night or in any condition where one's sight is impaired in a vehicle that just magnifies human error at a greater velocity and with the promise of collateral damage only fast moving steel can offer, is something one should take note of. I was driving down the road and was lulled into the beautiful shade of blue that says goodnight to the horizon and silhouetted trees when I was made painfully aware that without my headlights, I might have been on course for the tree line just as easily as the dirt road to my driveway. A fuse had shorted and for a split second there was no light, just the sun was saying goodbye and good luck. My foot instinctively pushed on the brake and I slowed to a grinding halt praying that nobody was behind me put in danger due to my abrupt stop. I kept thinking about how many times I willingly turn off the headlights and shun their aide in real life by way of sage advice from loving friends or Jiminy Cricket, that always aware, conscious sitting on my shoulder telling me to listen to my gut this time. For a brief moment, I asked myself again why anyone would voluntarily choose to not use all the tools at their disposal to aide them in avoiding harmful consequences? 

In business, things like debt ratios, spreadsheets, budgets, and business plans are not there to impede, distract, or even steal your joy, they are the headlights folks need to navigate the dark times of self employment on the roads that are seldom paved because by and large, fewer people choose those roads to travel and they tend to not be on the map.