Story number five: ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

It’s true: all of September passed without so much as a peep on this blog. We spent that month (and into this one) adjusting to big changes: our shop expansion brought some new team members, new duties, and a whole lot more work (not to mention a whole lot more fun!). We’re getting our heads wrapped around new rhythms and new business demands, grateful for slightly slower weekdays (at least for now) that allow us to warm up to our usual busy weekends…

First day of kindergarten

We also started last month with the Junior Shopkeeper launching bravely into her formal education experience (why not just do everything at once, right?). With the big transition to Kindergarten came some equally big schedule changes at our household… wonderful changes, including significantly more mama-daughter time…

All change requires adjustment, of course, and I’ll be damned if Junket needs and household needs aren’t now jockeying for what remains of the newly restructured workday.

The reality of this bootstrapping existence, though, is that there’s been little to no existing structure to begin with — no alarm clocks, no dress code, no regular meetings — instead, mental lists of things needing to get done, piles of papers reminding me not to put them away until I’ve done important things with them, eat on the fly, email on the fly, decide on the fly, burn dinner because I’ve stopped to do ‘one little thing,’ forgetting to return to the kitchen…

Lacking structure, I’ve also lacked efficiency…

The new kindergarten schedule has, despite its working-day constraints, brought definition. I have a sliver of time before the rugrat awakens. Time between her morning dash to class and my dash to open the shop… And then, time until her retrieval, likely to be whittled down by errands or projects to an hour or so before I realize I’ve lost most of the day. With such clearly defined bits and pieces of the day now available to me, I’ve realized that in order to get more done, I may first need to get good at doing less.

It’s probably no surprise, then, that when I share certain posts on Junket’s page – encouraging contemplation, or championing the discovery of stillness amid the bustle, for example – I’m doing it as much for me as for anyone else. Breathe in. Breathe out. Slow down. Clear the head… we can do this. Yes. We can do this.

As this blog continues, it’ll likely take a more philosophic bent: sharing –for those who are also making the time to slow down, digest, and reflect along with us — some of the things we’re learning, and inviting perspectives on what you’re learning, too.

Change is the only constant, of course. And so, let’s begin there: how do you embrace all that is represented by this particular six letter word? What techniques have you found helpful in adapting? What rituals help you get centered (and/or remain so)? What answers do you have to questions that we may not yet have thought to ask?

Thanks for sharing in this journey, friends.