Okay, I know y'all have been thinking it, so I'm just gonna come right out and say it.
I have a wee touch of ADHD when it comes to knowing just which direction I want to take my business.
And I say business like it's the only thing on my plate, my main source of income and livelihood.
Au contraire...
Au contraire...
Oh no, I have a real-life, full-time gig as a respiratory therapist, a job which I've had for a coon's age and pretty much can't imagine ever working anywhere else. I think I'm good at what I do, I love the people I work with, and the patients make it all worthwhile.
But then there's all this other stuff.
You know, the stuff I started prattling on (and on and on and ON) about when I started up this here blog back in August '09.
There's my antique mall booth.
There was (briefly) my forays into furniture refinishing.
There's my writing aspirations.
There's my Etsy Shop.
There's my photography aspirations.
There's selling in Warrenton as a dealer.
There's the mixed-media, collage stuff.
Have I left anything out?
In the past 6 months, you've seen me ping from one thing to the next, like a seriously distracted 3 year old cut loose in Toys-R-Us. Or, as my husband likes to call it, my "Shiny, Shiny, Shiny" moments.
My lovely husband and me on our honeymoon in '07. Notice how I'm way too cool to wear the requisite, life-saving, fanny pack apparatus. At least for photo-op's, anyway. ;-)
You know, you'll be walking along, talking about something else, when all of sudden something totally unrelated catches your eye...."Ooooo, shiny, pretty! Oh...what were you saying?"
Or as Deb calls it, SQUIRREL!!!
Man, she sure has ME figured out!!!
I mean, just look at all the permutations my logo, my brand, my whatever has gone through as I search for an identity. Something about blind pigs and truffles comes to mind. Sorry, inside joke.
So where am I headed?
Right now? The bathroom, but I'm speaking on a larger scale.
Better to do one thing well than a dozen half-ass, right?
Bigger question: Where does my heart lie?
Right now, I'm thisssss close to heeding the advice of a most wise FRIEND and giving up the booth in favor of focusing on my Etsy Shop and doing shows like Canton and Warrenton, albeit locally.
I love the antique mall folk, but honestly, it's a glorified storage space for the amount of money I'm making there. Etsy on the other hand, has proven itself to be both creatively and financially rewarding.
So, no-brainer, right?
Still, I hold out hope that I'll have a boffo sales month at the booth, that I'll land that first floor space, that I'll win the lottery.....
Am I the only one who's unfocused and undecided about the direction they want to take?
Sure feels like it sometimes.
Sorry that this post doesn't end on a resolved note. I vowed to be nothing if not honest with y'all about who I am and what I'm going through in my life when I started this blog, so I'm just keeping true to my promise.
Time will likely answer all these questions for me.
I'm thinking that come Spring, I will have de-cluttered my mind a bit, and my focus and energies will be directed more narrowly.
But until then.....
Thank y'all for bearing with me and all my shiny-ness.
XOXO
Posts
44 comments:
Hi there,
Great post!!
I know exactly what you mean. I have the same kinds of things going on.
Just wanted you to know that I just received my package. I love it! The packaging is great too!
Thanks so much,
Rosemary
O dear...decisions decisions, hu? Well, I know you will do what is best, once you figure out what you really want.
Good good luck to you!
Anne, generally,it takes time to figure out one's direction, specially in this business. One thing that I have learned is that, at least in my case, one month the etsy store is the place to be. Another month, the mall space is hot!...and then, the website picks up! But never at the same time. I don't know why, but it's been like that for the last 10 years! Just find what brings you more joy and focus on it, because that's where you will succeed. Big hugs,
Marcela
I am exactly like this!!
Decisions, Decisions!! You really do have a lot to think about. Take your time deciding. Pay attention to the details that make you happiest and bring the most financial reward and weigh them and sift through them and see if you can eliminate some of the choices. Easy for me to say! In the end, I know you will make the right choice.
Anne, I am so with you and understand exactly your dilema, are you sure we were twins separated at birth, oh never mind, I'm way older than you? Anyways, I've got this wild idea brewing in my head, I'm still researching it and I'll let you know if it goes through. I'm out of one shop and if the other doesn't pick up I might be out of there too. I don't have time or money or patience to let my things sit and not sell. I love love love doing Warrenton and Round Top 4 times a year, but would like something else between these 4 shows, so we'll see how it goes, but you'll be the first to know my friend.
You are sooo silly, yet, I think all of us really!! understand...you just need a couple of kids sooooo you can really go in all differen directions!!! lol
Anne, we are your sounding board. The blog world is a good place to throw around ideas and get opinions. You do that well. It's good to have business advice from others who are along the same path. So while you may have "shiny" moments that's what endears you to all of us! Fresh and creative and unafraid to take on a challange. wish I could be more like you, my dear friend!
ly,
Deb
besides my spring fever, I AM ALWAYS overtaken with a case of ADD
Attention Design Disorder™
I so hear ya on the "Shiney, shiney, shiney", that's pretty much how I am all the time. Good luck in figuring out which direction to take.
teri
Hmmmm, you know I have said this before that I would love to have a booth. It would be a storage area for me too. Although I need one, I don't want to pay someone to keep my stuff or the way I look at it give them the first however many dollars of my stuff sold to keep it there. You have to sell too much to make a profit. I know it is fun! Now the etsy shop, you keep your own stuff... sell it or not and ship it or keep it. So, my advice is to narrow your "what you are doing" to "what you WANT to do". As in trying new things instead of treading water with the old things. You know I am not a professional at anything except being retired:) I know you have a lot of stuff going on and perhaps too much on your plate! AND A JOB? HELLO? Hugs and no charge for the advice:)
Oh my gosh...thank you sharing! I have soooo many days where I'm taking the same path. I have several irons in the fire and just don't know which direction to go...I wish someone would just tell me or that I'll be given a 'sign'. I wish you well & try to hang in there.
oh honey you're not alone. I too am the same way. Oooo pretty! or Look at that! or I've got this new idea! are the most used words in my vocabulary, as is oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt you what were you saying? My mom had a better word for us and that is Dreamer. Our loved ones know how we are and accept us for who we are. The hardest part for us is to accept it ourselves :) Hang in there sweetie, we've made it this far, right?
Anne,
You wrote that so well. And yes, I feel the same way. When I grow up, I want to write, paint, sell antiques, buy crap at auctions, travel to new places, make mail box saddlebags...
I don't want to be a juvenile probation officer any more...and haven't been for some time!
Let me know how you make your decision and stick to it or which medication you take to stay focused!
Anna
Hi Anne :)
I'm supposed to be on a bloggy break but here I am LOL Thank you sooooo much for your sweet comment!! I'm like that too, except for us it's "Look! There's a chicken!!" ;)
I'm on this break because of my indecisiveness as well. Don't beat yourself up about it and you'll be fine :)
xo,
rue
Ah yes, I know that shiny, shiny syndrome as I suffer from it myself. My husband will attest to that. He can't take my 180 degree pivots in our conversations. I think we can all identify with shiny, shiny!
I love your honesty!
xo
Claudia
I have words here.... I just don't know how to type them when they are rattlin' around in my head. Until you find the right thing - you can't find the focus. I have 2 business... 1 I piddled around with... couldn't decide on a logo, couldn't decide where i wanted to go with it, etc. etc. etc. for like... 8 years. Not kidding!!! Like you. THEN! The inspiration hit on the 2nd one... and within 30 minutes I knew what my logo was going to look like, I knew what my branding was, I knew where I wanted it to be in 20 years. Now, it's just all the yucky hard part of building it...
So - when your "thing" happens, you will SO KNOW IT!!! I promise!!! But for now - I think you are perfectly perfect. Glorified storage - heck yeah, that's what I file on my taxes. LOLOL Follow your heart dear Anne, it's brought you to this point - and I for one am glad it has - otherwise, how would I know you?
I'm pulling for you - whichever way you go... in the meantime, I'll share your shiny moments. ;-)
xoxo
robelyn
If what you are going through, all you are processing, is "shiny", then I am glow in the dark in vibrant colors!!
I am a blinding light in the face of confusion!
You are so not in that boat alone!!
I've decided for now, all i am doing, and want to do, and confusions, and overwhelmedness, is just who i am for the moment, and like you, hoping the dust will settle soon, and I'll be on some less confusing path.
blessings girl
and thanks for sharing your heart.
barbara jean
Anne: I sooo soooo soooo get it! Mr. Fish can't even follow my converstations without shaking his head and wanting to cover his ears....hhmmmm..but searching is what us ADHD folks do...wanna ride bikes?, look a chicken! that's our catch phrases for when I shiny shiny shiny. I'm in the same quandry, close the shop,art, antiques,junk,jewelry,etsy, shows, markets, family, friends oh and the necessary job...I have no advice except to roll with it sister that's what makes you creative, and unique!
You just have to surround yourself with people who get it! It's ok...really it is...
I echo a lot of the sentiment from the above comments. Besides your full-time RT job, what makes you happiest? Follow your heart and it will all work out.
Jane
I know how you feel. I do Canton every month, and have 3 other malls i'm in. I love the business but I feel I am pulled in to many diffenent directions all the time. I stay very stressed. I've been doing alot of praying about it lately. I did get out of one of the malls I was in, but then a lady called me the other day and wanted me to put a booth in her shop she is opeining, so guess what here I go into another shop. I think I need some professional help. So I truly know where your coming from not knowing which direction to take. Best of luck to you.
OMG Anne ~ you are just the cutest thing. I love how your husband calls your moments shiny moments! LOL. Since I was a little girl I have been blinded by anything shiny and glittery, to my older sisters total disappointment, as she had to walk to school with me. Neil always says "there go those perry winkles flying around your head again".
I hate to sound like a copy cat but I am absolutely all over the place too. Your honesty in your post make me think of you even more like a great friend. You'd think by almost 50 I have an idea how to start and actually finish something or know what I really want, wouldn't you? I got a better shoppers eye then an artist eye. I love it all! LOL.
Maybe we'll find direction together this year.
Love ya, Tracy :)
Anne, I think you'll figure it out. Testing the waters is always a good way to begin, and that's what you seem to be doing. My guess is you'll settle into what it is you really want to do. I'm easily distracted too. There are so many things I want to do, ideas circling around in my head, but acting on them....that's another thing. You are acting on your ideas. I say, "Good for you!" I don't doubt you'll be a success where ever you land on this decision. The best of luck....Sarah
Anne, I was going to write saying I'm right there with you and then I read all of the comments these wonderful woman have written and I thought maybe that's why we all connect, and understand eachother. My sister and I get teased by our entire family--- all 50 of them! It's ok we laugh about it ourselves, I love my shiny moments. Not that they don't have their downfalls, sometimes I wish I could just stay focused on one thing but you know what? That's not who I am. I love to dabble in all of the things I find to be beautiful and ofcourse shiny. I like to look at things and imagine them as something completely different and if I didn't I think my life would be so dull. I did a post at the beginning of the year on my crafting a.d.d. As I was going through pics for the 'look back' post I realized when I saw all the pics together that I really can't seem to pick a medium. I've thought that with my etsy too, do I need to have more consistency to get better sales? Really too much to ponder.
Now I've babbled long enough, I love your blog, your etsy is wonderful and I'm sure your booth is amazing. I think like the others have said it will come to you. Relax, don't fret, unless it's all so much that your feeling way stressed, your doing an amazing job of hiding it, I always find your blog to be inspiring. so thank you for that, ~ Theresa
Every thing will work out. Just follow your heart and dreams. It's destiny:)
~Debra
Blog: Capers of the vintage vixens
Girl, your brain is doing flipflops! I for one can never seem to turn my off. I am constantly creating, projecting, crafting, bloggin and thinking of what I can create next.
I have a booth and it consumes me, but I'm not that thrilled with the income from my hard work.
I did open an etsy shop but I have yet to get the nerve to put something up for sale.
At least you did make one decision to close your booth and put more energy into your etsy shop. Now, I think I might have to decide.
One thing I know, I'll never give up and that is blogging. I love it and I love people like you who create such lovely blogs and give inspiration to the rest of us.
Sissie
Hi sweet Anne,
You are such a doll and I hope that as the days and weeks pass your heart will settle.
Wishing you the most beautiful week.
Hugs from your friend
Kate
I am right here with you... except I listen to what everyone tells what they think I should do, then I have what I would like to do, and then what I have to do to bring home money... I have no answers for you.
Hope you find your way!
Michelle
hi, i thought you had everything together. but, if you think you do not maybe you are trying to be in your niche too soon. can't make it be all tied up in a bundle and settled. it takes time and like i said it will happen when it is gonna. ask anyone. one can only enjoy one day at a time. actually, i admire you. you have what sounds like a great job working with people and etsy and the mall for your outside creative interests. it will all come. Bestest,Denise
Girl all my life I have gone in many directions...but some where it all came to me what I really wanted to do and that was what made me Happy...after having cancer a few times I learned just to please myslef and the rest will come...Hugs and smiles to you my friend...Gl♥ria
Oh, I hear ya allright...you sound perfectly *normal* to me! I'm right there with you...there comes a moment when we realize we can't do it *all* or be it *all*...and January is such a time to ponder on it...What do I *really* love? And what am I good at? What makes my heart race? Right now, I'm lovin' blogging and photography...creating beauty without making a mess! Just keep pondering...we all have different gifts and you do have the gift of gab...that is a compliment...people *like* what you say and how you say it...you make us smile:)
Rene'
I have the same affliction! and reading all your commets above we should not feel alone!
I want to do everything..I have tried everything.. mixed media, painting, crochet, sewing..and as I blog I find more inspirations and try my hand at more things! ..I so wish may passion for one would surface..but I love them all! I have a booth also..that really does not make the profit I had expected..so it is like a storage like you said..and Etsy I have not tryed..but am seriously thinking of trying...like you do...so many roads to choose..so hard to decide...Maybe what they say is true it is all about the journey. :-)
Hi Anne,
You sound very busy with so much going on.
Follow your heart and do the things which make you happy, I say.
Wishing you much success with everything, dear friend.
Happy week
Hugs
Carolyn
I'm there girl! The truth is... I usually about break even in my booth... and now that I'm moving up... I'll have to sell more to pay the higher rent... But I enjoy doing it (mostly) and it gives me a place to store all that stuff I love until somebody else falls in love with it... I don't have time nor energy to do Canton or Warrenton (unless it's shopping there)... so that helps me keep it narrowed down.
Do what you love.. life is way too short to look back 10-years from now and say... "I wish I had..."... better to say... "I did"...
hugs... Dixie
Hi Anne:
It's always fun to learn new things about you, and your thought processes. I know you'll figure it all out and will anxiously await your next big gig!
xoxo
Donna
Anne,
You have so many people here that totally understand what's in your head and heart right now. I am not sure I can add any additional wisdom, but I do care that you haven't found your "happy spot" yet. Believe me one day it will just come...kind of like LOVE...once you stop trying so hard to find it, it comes...In this business it is so easy to lead with your heart, but be mindfull you must keep your business sense in tact or you will be forever going from one shiney thing to the next...and missing that diamond in the rough!!You're a truely wonderful person and I wish only the very best to you. You'll just know when it's right....but enjoy the ride along the way dear freind
Gale
Your path has taken you pretty much the same way mine took me, a goodly number of years ago. I loved the antique mall, just loved it, but couldn't make the rent at times, let alone extra money. Etsy is very very good. The thing I miss is being able to decorate ~ you know, "play in my booth", sort of thing? Loved it. Good luck with your decisions. They are difficult, at best, sometimes. So sorry about your toe. Hope it heals up nicely. :)
Kitty
We all go through this! I'm still too scattered, and it's been years. The fact that you refer to your glorified storage space pretty much says it all. You can always go back to having a booth, but I say etsy/shows. My only piece of advice is to do a few shows before committing. Shows are less-frequent, but suck DAYS out of your life (though they're fun). They're exhausting, especially if you're away from home. You've got a lot of GREAT advice to read here!!!
Hi sweet shiny girl!!!
Well, I've done it all...well only a couple of shows and I know what I DON'T want to do:
Own a shop again ~ I love the freedom of hunting and gathering and having a store is like having a tiny baby...it MUST be tended to. Plus there is a bit of drama blending the personalities of dealers (just keepin' it real)
Shows are VERY physical so if you are in good shape (which I think you are :) Go for it and give it a try, you may just love it!!
I think if you develop your style and brand, which you are doing here, you can pick and choose what pleases you most and when it all boils down to it Anne, THAT'S what matters.
But I will tell you this...if something's not paying off after a few months, I'm outta there and trying something new ~ I believe it's ok to change your mind, just ask my husband!!!
But what will never change is my love for all things old, all things beautiful and all things creative!!! I believe it will reveal itself to you, and if it doesn't take too much of your time and isn't too costly, you can do several things at once!!
Whew! I'm just full of information today but truthfully we are ALL in the same boat sweetie ~
hugs and love to you dear friend,
Dawn
I totally get where you are coming from... I am thinking my family will need roller skates to keep up with me and my ever changing thought process! great post!
martha
opendoorstudio ... I have contemplated the booth thing and always go back to the etsy shop...but it would be nice to have things in one spot and not have to wait for photos to upload...but you cant beat 20 cents to list... it would take a lot of 20 cents to add up to the price of 1 months booth rent.
best of luck my adhd compadre!
Anne amor, I hope that you are able to choose the things that make you happy and your heart sing...that being said...Squirrel...sorry couldn't resist...I hear this in my house all the time :) I call them my "oooh purtty moments"..Besos, Rose
God Anne ... I swear you are the voice that is in my head. You just put to words what my mind races thru every day! I always seem to be looking for direction and while doing so choose to follow a multitude of paths ... frequently questioning myself if I'm on the right one. It's comforting to know there's "others" out there like me {you, and quite a few I can see in the comments section!}
Hang in there baby ... I'm hangin' right next to ya!
xo
Jill
i sure hear you....
.if one of the ideas would make reasonable money then it wouldnt be so bad.....
at least you are in a field where jumping around is great fun!!! but we are grown ups and have to eventually do the math too....
i cant make a mall booth work very well.`but am in one consignment..and really wonder about etsy which we are still on.`my plot there is nothing under 20$..we gave up ebay.the average stuff quit selling for us after 4000+ sales..and i bought a great website to sell on and am totally holding back because i hardly ever see anyone making money at it in our field..i want to feel good about this before pouring the hours into it...
so i stick to my store which has worked out....but i want something else to work too.... im so into steampunk right now but i doubt if it will ever take off here in corn country!!! lol...
dont you think creativity , ahd...curiosity and adventurousness sp?? are wonderful qualities for our businesses? i really do...
While I sit here recovering from my cervical surgery (neck brace firmly in place), I'm reading backwards through my blog subs, trying to catch up. Of course, yours, being a fave, caught my eye. Good grief girlfriend, you are DEFINITELY NOT the only one LOL. Let's see, I'm a miniaturist, doll maker, trying to learn clay doll making and clay miniature food making, aspiring ATC artist, aspiring journaling artist, aspiring who knows what next week person. Yeah, I'm bi-polar, and a touch OCD, buy, hey! a girls gotta have a good time. So nope, you're not alone, not by a LONG shot. My husband swears I'm a repressed hoarder and if it wasn't for him I'd have the entire house filled. Not so, just a much larger "studio" than I have now!
So, girl, you keep going through your changes. You'll light on a couple and you'll be set. You're just growing and trying to find your niche.
Smiles~
Marilyn
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