Last week I came back from Myra’s Annual Lavender Festival: Keep on Dancing being the theme. That is probably the secret, dancing through life. Not that we should ignore life along the way, but often the best way to keep plugging away is to dance along with things.
The first time I came back to La Paix after my stroke, I wondered how it would be. There’s not an inch of even ground on the mountain. And I fell down around my house which was adapted for me. But I coped. It wasn’t easy, there were places I couldn’t get to any more, but that was part of being handicapped. I didn’t expect everyone to adapt for my problems. Especially when I visited once or twice a year.
That’s something I’ve noticed more since I had my stroke. Some people are so intent on “being normal” that they’re determined everything should be accessible in case they want to participate. It would be nice if we all could participate. But unfortunately in life things happen which leaves us on the sidelines in such events. There are some that insist they should be able to have the chance to take part no matter what. I’m surprised that they don’t scream because they didn’t win. Doesn’t matter they didn’t do as well as the winner, they should have the “experiene” of winning. Reminds me of a quote from one of my favorite authors Tom Robbins. “….a choice without consequences is no choice at all.”
We can gripe because life dealt us a bad hand and infect all we come in contact with or we can take the hand we’re dealt and create something quite remarkable from it.
Could be a need to expose others to the joy of working with plants. Whether it is a gastronomic experience, or because you feel that alternative medicine is a kinder, gentler form of healing, or the idea of working with scents makes sense (pun intended). If you get into the herb industry because you have a passion, it will be a lot easier when things don’t always go right. And trust me, they won’t. And passion takes a job and makes it a career. That’s why if you’re not doing something you love, start looking for a change.
On one of the lists I’m on, someone asked whether social media is taking people away from the group. Honestly, I think life takes people away. When you first start a small business, you’re looking for people to share information with. Or a group that gives you moral support. Unfortunately, the people that talk the most on lists are ones that have a lot of free time.
I don’t expect to see my favorite successful authors or business folks answering questions on forums. They’ve got more important things to do. Or they use their “free” time to have a life, not sit around and “twitter”. I’m amazed when they do find the time to answer and they contribute some really awesome items.
For some reason, we now think people should answer our emails when we never would even have approached these same people with a phone call not too many years ago. I had someone recently complain bitterly that no one would answer her questions, when she asked. I asked her what the question was, and it was the non-ending question: Tell me everything I need to know to start an herb business.
Here it is November 10….it’s been a strange year with most of it a year of recovering from a major stroke. Things have been difficult. It wasn’t until July that I really started to work again. And it really wasn’t until last month that my head was really back to speed. I’ve really tried to change my behavior….no more working all night. I’m not worrying about things I can’t change. That’s why my blood pressure was so high…278/170. Now if it gets to 135 I take a little time out. The doctors had me on too mny pills…I think there were about 10. With a little research I’m down to one. Eventually I’ll probably drop that one.
And I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the business and what direction I want to take it. The Herbal Green Pages will be online. It’s already started. www.herbworld.com/green_pages.htm I’m hoping to make an unbelievable database of herb businesses. Too bad you can just copy and paste the book. The Herbalpedia is going strong…it took months before I could write a monograph but that’s coming along too. Amazing how hard it is relearning everything. It seems like I lost so much I took for granted. But each day I remember a little more…and each day my body responds a little better. In some ways, this stroke was the best thing that could have happened. 
I’ve spent much of the past year in the blahs. A lot of reasons, I’m sure. In a new house (that I love) but it’s still not “home” like the one I lived in for 14 years alone was. I’m in that middle age muck where you wonder whether what you’ve been doing for over 20 years is still what I want to be doing or do I want to sell everything, leave the cats at my sister’s and join the Peace Corps or move to China. We’ve all been there at some point. Or will be if you haven’t had the joyful experience yet.
But a realization came to me this morning of why I wasn’t moving through the muck as easily as I usually do. I had stopped bringing something new, spiritual, motivational into my life and when that stopped, my creativity went as well. At the old house I had my “room”. Actually I had an entire large house to myself, but this particular room was my haven. The shelves were lined with books that had made a difference to me or looked as if they could become part of that collection. There were decks of cards I had used to inspire me…..hate to use the phrase tarot cards because many were really more than that….perhaps inspirational cards would be a better term. There were items that friends had added to the room…..a smudge dish and feather from Tina…a Tibetan Prayer Wheel from Diane….a beautiful framed print of Grandmother Moon I’d fallen in love with as I sat in a booth at a trade show next to the artist…and a very comfortable chair. I’d sit and read almost every morning for a time…..sometimes 10 minutes….sometimes 30. But I read something that made me think and feel and start those creative juices flowing.
It was never herb books or website design books or anything to do with business. I got those read in the evening or as needed during the day. These were books where the author shared wisdom…..”The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron….anything by Sark like “Succulent Wild Women”, Wayne Dyer’s latest inspiration. Books like this inspired me to scramble up to my office and do something I felt passionate about….herbs and the people that were trying to make a business working with something they were passionate about as well.
And the new house didn’t have that cozy warm room where I could find that inspiration. So over the past couple weeks I thought I’d try to recreate that space. Not to look like the old room, but something that fit into who and where I am now. I purchased an incredible chair that was big and roomy where I could put my feet up. I lined the walls with a set of prints of the four seasons I found in China that brought me to tears. There was a different bookcase, a good light, lots of windows and a return of the cats which hadn’t spent much time in the room before. And after a few days, voila, my mind started seeing possibilities again. “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert was devoured. I’m now in the middle of “Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion” and have every other page turned down because there’s so much I know I’ll want to refer back later to. (How I screen books later to pass on…..if the book isn’t dog-eared, it didn’t work for me.)
So if you’re in a malaise right now and you need a lift, create that sacred spot where you can be alone with your thoughts and read only what makes you think and laugh and cry. It will help you “Make Your Creative Dreams Real” (another wonderful book by SARK.