Empowering Myself by Doing Nothing: Listening to my Body

As a jeweler in Vermont running a small business in which my intention is to make empowering jewelry, I want to be real with you all. The jewelry I make is just as much a reminder and support for me as I hope it is for you. It's important for me to create handmade jewelry that uplifts you, as well as me, because we are all in community together. So let me tell you where I'm at.

The plumber is here. Our shower drain is clogged up. This happens about once a year since we've moved into this house with 100-year-old pipes. I haven't taken a shower in 2 days. My dog is going crazy, because this is only the second non-family member whose been in our house since COVID started. I have allergies that are determined to make my life miserable by literally forcing my eyes closed and making it feel like my face is being clawed by a lizard (actually I don't know if normal lizards have claws but this one does, I swear). We are planning a backpacking trip that requires us to pre-make and dehydrate 324 meals (we can barely figure out what we're going to cook for dinner tonight!) and it just so happens to be 95 degrees out and we don't have AC. 

And I know I'm not alone! I bet you can relate to having a gajillion things on your plate at times and feeling like it's impossible to know how to make everything work together. There are just not enough hours in the day and you can't hold it all together.

Yesterday I decided that maybe a change in scenery would get me out of my funk and get me more organized (read: "productive"), so I trekked the 1/2 block to my jewelry studio. Wrong move! I decided I was going to fix a little glitch I was having on my website and spent an hour doing that, resulting in me messing it up even more. The reality of being a jeweler is that a lot of the time I'm doing totally non-jewelry related things for my business! I took this as a sign that the universe was saying "I told you so!". 

So today, I'm taking a different approach. Today's approach is to let it all be, and to take care of myself. When my body is ready to do something, I will do it, but I won't force myself to do anything "productive" because I know, despite being in the midst of ALL of it, it's time to slow down. In this society and culture it is so easy to get caught up in the productivity vortex. It feels so freeing when you realize you can actually just step out of it. 

AND, I'm doing the simple things that I know will lift me up in little ways. I put on my Dawn Sky Stud earrings. These earrings are little bright blue studs that remind me of the calm and peace of an early morning sky. They're the earrings I'm planning to wear on my month long backpacking trip of the Long Trail in Vermont. I wanted something that wouldn't get in the way as I hike and sweat, but that would also make me feel alive and strong. These earrings fit the bill.  

I'm also letting my mind envision new pieces of jewelry. I'm getting inspired by the mountains of Vermont and the jeweler in me has about 20 empowering jewelry design ideas that I cannot wait to handcraft. I get excited about making jewelry that helps you (and me!) feel strong and like you are totally capable of taking on whatever life gives you.

And sometimes, taking it on means letting it go (for a moment). Because no matter how many things are on our list of things to do, the world will probably keep spinning if we don't get to all of them. 

So here's a reminder for you (and mostly for me) that it's okay to take a step back and pause. Sometimes, the most empowering thing you can do is nothing at all.