Saturday, March 9, 2013

Building a Business Around Joy

Being creative is my play-time. Connecting with joy is my devotion.

It's about being bold and curious.  To create as children do, because it's fun and not because I'm trying to produce something to sell.

And here's what has happened since I began to approach creating in this playful 
way...

I woke up this BIG, SLEEPING, GIANT that has taken over my life.

Creativity is oozing out of me in any form possible.  Ideas!  Paint! Jewelry Making!
Art Journaling, pastels, paper, whatever I can wrap my hands or mind around.

And it's pure joy to me.  I'm learning so very much, and it's done in the spirit of exploration.  It's not agony.  It's not ripping my soul out and putting it down.  It's play.

I know because it draws children in.  They see that I'm having a blast and they want to do it too.  I've started calling them my "proteges."  

We're weaving this sort of wacky, creative life together.

Weaving Project with yarn, lace and bits of nature

We're finding what's important and what's not.  

Some things we try we want to do again and again, like playful painting with stamps and collage, and the weaving we did above.

And that's how I'm figuring out the direction of my business too.  What's the most fun to me?  What do I really enjoy and want to build around?

Here are some questions that I'm basing the formation of my business around.
They're the guides, the essence that I keep returning to when my mind starts to stray or I begin to lose focus.  These are the questions that I'm building my business around:

What brings you the most joy?  (What do you find completely, toe-tingling, exciting?)

What is it that you most want to share?

How can you merge your work, your family and your life into one big pot of fun and joy?  Take out the walls of separation and create one whole life you love?

Are you choosing to build a "new job" for yourself or a new way of living that involves supporting yourself from your passion and joy?

I'm going to dive into these questions in more depth in upcoming posts to share how these are shaping my steps forward.  (Also, it gives me clarity and holds me accountable when I put it down.)

2 comments:

shannon said...

I like your journey.....as you know I have begun a similar one. Honest post with a great message.

Kelly D said...

Thank you Shannon! I know you approach your art in a similar way and it just shines!