The “BIG ANNOUNCEMENT” Post
I follow a lot of woo woo, personal growth and recovery people on social media.
I also follow cute animals who know more about how to run their social media sites than I do. For years, I’ve seen people put up teaser posts saying something along the lines of:
“Stay tuned! BIG announcement coming!!!”
I’ve always fantasized about having a reason to share a post like that.
That I would have something creative and special to share with people who care.
But I never did.
Because I drank and my style of drinking fucking buried the possibility of anything I started creatively from ever being born.
In the years after I stopped drinking, fear was the thing that held me back.
I was alcohol-free but I kept on living in an unnecessary protective cocoon.
Too afraid of judgement and failure.
Too afraid to put anything on the line.
Last September, two days before my 52nd birthday, I abruptly lost my job and it became immediately and abundantly clear that God and er’body else who guides me from that other plane, were telling me that it was time to make a life choice.
I’d been talking to them for years about what I wanted and then doing nothing about it. Full of bullshit excuses.
So last September they all showed up that day and presented me my choices…
-Continue to simply exist. I could look for the next job in the same industry I’ve worked in for decades. I could continue to be the captain of a ship of lethargy, a master of navigating my unfulfilled world where growth and joyful surprises would never be possible. I could continue in the comfort of well-known miserable discomfort.
OR
-Begin actually living. I could work on allowing the real me come to surface and take control of my life. I could begin actually creating the kind of life I’ve dreamed about for years. I could be the creative soul that I supported and nurtured and invested in every day.
I picked DOOR #2 and since I made the choice, Things have been happening fast and things have been happening often since I decided to put myself out there.
Right now my life is a big, wild construction site. There’s a lot going on over here. I’m building things. I’m tearing shit down- specifically, old habits and old belief systems. That, by the way, takes time and repetition. Sometimes I tear something down and the next morning- or THAT NIGHT- it’s back! So, I tear it down again.
On a regular basis, days are great. Sometimes days are hard. On this day, things are pretty great because I’m here with a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!
In fact, I’ve got a few big announcements and they read like a laundry list of gratitude.
I recently introduced multimedia Tiny Tiles. Tiles that incorporate actual photos of pets. These personalized tiles honor the living boo boos or memorialize the sweet hearts that have gone on. If you have human kids I can put one-a them in there too…
A few weeks ago I got a commission from a lady in Mississippi, that was followed by a friend who commissioned four pieces to cluster on a wall in her new office. That was followed by another commission, followed by another!
In January, I began working a few hours a week for Inner Peace Press, an independent publishing company supporting independent authors telling their personal stories of transformation- Soul Stories... I love it. Heather Felty, the editor and owner of IPP, is a talented, like-hearted, kind person with a great collaborative spirit. She is a joy to work for and with.
Shortly after I started with IPP, I pitched Heather an idea of publishing a memoir about sobriety. I did not imagine myself as the author, but thought that I could help to find the author.
A few weeks later, I got an email from Heather saying she wanted to do the book on sobriety but wanted it to be a book of essays from multiple authors and she invited me to be one of authors! And she invited me to write the book’s preface! And she invited me to choose five of the other participants!
I made my asks to potential book participants and I got a YES from FIVE SOBER BADASS women… I’m so excited about this project that I never saw coming!
More recently, I got an unexpected email from another amazing, creative woman, Polly Singer, of Polly Singer Couture Hats and Teas. Polly invited me to work for her for a few hours a week! My blessings continue because Polly is also a talented, kind, creative artist who makes AMAZING hats and delicious artisan teas and I’m very much enjoying working with her.
Last Friday, was an especially big day as I obtained my official business license for, California Afternoon.
This is the name of an essential oil blend that I’ve been making and wearing as my personal scent for about 18 years- and I now plan to sell it!
One that same day, I signed my contract for the book with Inner Peace Press.
Earlier this week, I got a call from a longtime, dear friend. She, along with some other artists in her neighborhood, host an annual neighborhood Bizarre. The founding members of the event are a committee of participating artists and each year they invite a guest artist to be a part of the Bizarre. My friend was calling to invite me to be the guest artist at this year’s, 4th Annual Bizarre!
Y’all, things are happening in ways I’ve only read about in O Magazine and for the first time ever in my life, I wake up wondering what fantastic surprise will happen today?
What’s happening now is so much more than I imagined could happen in the short span of time since I left my job last September.
I’m so grateful. I’m so amazed. I never want to stop being either of those things.
I also want to add that these things did not occur in a vacuum. I had and have help from family and friends- lending support and connection to me. Thank you, my family and friends.
I’m so grateful. I’m so amazed.
And I can’t wait to share the next post that says something along the lines of:
“Stay tuned! BIG announcement coming…”