An Interview With...Myself
I've been working on a vision board and much of it consists of quotes and photos from Origin Magazine. The magazine, which focuses on wellness, home, creatives and travel, is so visually appealing I'm lifted up each time I even see it out of the corner of my eye. I didn't know magazines could be like that and it's so refreshing and exciting to see something designed in such a new way.
Most of the pages are filled with various creative artists, many of them interior designers. The photos of their art and their home are deeply inspiring. As are the brief interviews mostly revolving around sharing advice on how they practice self-care, who/what inspires them, best advice they've been given and more.
Reading these questions so many times has me thinking about how I'd answer them so I decided to ask them to myself.
Marjorie: What does Slow Living Mean to you?
I'm still figuring this out. I'd once read a book called Chasing Slow by Erin Loechner and I loved why the author chose the title - because she was still in the process of finding slow living but willing to share the journey albeit incomplete. I feel similarly. Mainly to me it feels like living with intention and directing my time. Not allowing others to direct my life, because I've done that a bunch and that feels very fast forward.
Marjorie: Advice for taking care of your spirit?
Allowing it some space to be taken care of. Spirit is central to my life and it's a mystery. It's unseen yet this massive force for me. That is tricky to make space for something so elusive yet so vital. Then I feel the need to articulate what spirit is for me and then I get lost in the trying to do that when all I really wanted to do was be quiet and happy.
Basically I wake up every day and have this inner dialogue before I even get out of bed. It goes like this, "Wannnnt coffee. Real bad. I'm committed, you know what to do." Then I brew the coffee, drink a large glass of water and get into child's pose on my rug in our library. I have a series of yoga poses I do each day to wake up and then I sit in meditation. Sometimes the meditation is 30 seconds, sometimes it's 20 minutes. Sometimes it's guided, sometimes there's chanting. Always it happens. It's been my routine for about 4 years now - everyday. I skip it rarely.
I don't think it's the only way but I know it's the best way for me. Raising two young kids it's the only way I can be absolutely sure I'll get this connection to spirit daily. When I wait to evening, it's too risky. It doesn't happen.
Marjorie: What do you wish you knew 15 years ago?
15 years ago I was 21 and hyper-focused on doing well in college so I could get a "successful career." I wish I knew I was an empath then. Being an empath has caused me a great deal of pain because I didn't understand what was happening to me. Now that I've learned that I can basically feel emotions of others and energy so deeply, I've been able to learn how to recognize what's mine and what's not and feel less confused. I also wish I knew how eating healthy really keeps your head clear.
Marjorie: Great advice that you've received?
On whether I should keep going when my business was starting and parenting was consuming: "Yes, what else are you going to do? You have to do something." So easy to miss the wisdom here but these words have carried me for years. Through the screaming baby years, through the tantrums and through the parenting exhaustion. So happy I have persevered and now have years of experience with my business. Baby steps really do add up.
Marjorie: Advice for creatives + entrepreneurs?
You are not alone and when you feel compelled to create or make (whatever your medium), heed the call. Otherwise that energy can get stuck and for me that stuck feeling is really frustrating and a confusing place to be. I try to balance how much I consume and how much I create. When one is way more than the other I feel very lopsided.
Marjorie: Creative tools you love
Lists, colorful pens and the internet to CONNECT with other creatives. I love that I can find a podcast, blog post or book that speaks directly to my experience of being a creative small business owner. Many times I find stories of mothers, like myself, trying to figure out how to be home with our children and live a creative life at the same time. I'm always grateful for the stories.
Marjorie: Best piece of business advice when you were starting out?
People are going to make suggestions on how they think your business should go. Even if they are well-intended, they can cause stress. I let my heart and my desire to create or bring to life a specific product guide me. Then I research, plan and work on it quietly before I open it up for discussion.
xo,
Marjorie Sarah
ps - And if you think you'd like Origin magazine too, I recommend you subscribe as it's been really hard to find in stores!
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash