Sabbatical 2.0

Last December I had good plan. I was going to take 2 weeks away from my “public” work and write and plot and read and refill.

I called it a sabbatical.

But then my house got broken into while I was Seattle. And we suddenly packed everything we own into a storage space and moved our little family into a very tiny, very temporary space. Oh, and there were the holidays. And travel. And no one bought anything for 3 weeks (a never-before streak that freaked me right out).

My sabbatical was more work and hassle than working.
It wasn't a rest, it was a marathon of stress.

And when it was over, I jumped right back into everything.
Big wholesale orders. Big classes. Big sales.

But as my latest class comes to an end and I start to plan the next thing, I keep pondering that sabbatical. What could it have been like?
What would that mindful stepping-back have felt like if life didn't jump in?

Can I have a do over?
Is that allowed?

A question of permission.

As the World's Best Boss (my mug says so!), what do I allow in this business (life)?

I'm allowed to

• take short breaks
• take long breaks
• to keep working on the stuff I love.

I'm allowed to try this sabbatical again.
But this time, with a better container (length of time, specific experiments). I won't keep myself from the stuff I love. I will figure out what, exactly, I want the sabbatical from.

What's the stuff that I love?

• My CraftyBiz Kitchen. Working with them one-on-one, teaching a class each week.
• Talking, sharing, tweeting, being social.
• Yarn: spinning, dyeing, designing.
• Writing.

So what do I really want a break from?

Selling.

Ah!

Is that all?

Yes. The planning, organizing and all the work associated with selling. Classes, yarn, patterns, books. All of it. I just want to make make make.

Ok! We can do that!

As the World's Best Boss,

I hereby grant permission to take a sabbatical from all selling until June.

Really? Is it that easy?

Well, there may be questions, concerns (chief among them…can I really afford to stop selling?) and weirdness. There will be exploring (will I have more time? more energy?) and experimentations (what would it be like if I just made what I made and then put it up, without fanfare?).

Why June?

It seems like enough time to really take notes and experiment. 2 weeks was way too short. 2-3 months seems better. Also, June 3rd is my birthday and it's the anniversary of this site. I have ideas for celebrating.

NO selling?

Here's the thing: you can always buy this stuff if you need help in your CraftyBiz. More stuff (like a book) may even quietly join that stuff. And I'll always be adding yarn to to the yarn shop (because I can't stop myself from making it) and sending my yarn to shops and craft shows.

But what I mean is that I won't be spending time planning how to sell something. I won't be consciously selling. In fact, I'll be consciously not selling, just creating + refining. When I start to sell again, I hope to be more clear about what I do, how I help and what exactly I want to spend my time doing.

It all comes back to safety

Tomorrow, I'll talk about how not-selling is safer than selling. Yeah, weird.

Irony alert! I have 3 spots in the CraftyBiz Kitchen, the only place to get the classes  and books I make for the next 3 months. I thought I should tell you (I know a few of you have been waiting since December): You can grab a spot here and have an inside look at how this not-selling is going to work.