Goodbye 2016

so i know this isn’t a right-on-time New Year salutation, but as 2017 came to us on a Sunday, and i try to limit my screen time especially on Sunday’s, i wasn’t feeling up to writing this then.
plus i needed a little bit of time for sinking-in and mulling-over of some of the following.
this might get long, but such is the way of my heart, so bare with me.

i have felt more me this year than i ever have before.

a friend and i have this joke “you're more you than you've ever been” which comes about when we feel content, we’ve had revelations into our innermost workings, or breakthroughs in regards to external issues.

and that might sound trivial to you in a cliche millennial-generation-find-yourself sort of way, but honestly it’s how i feel. 

it’s the summation of what this year has been, and what i think will continue for me into 2017.
being more me now than i've ever been.

i think the following has a huge part in the making up of that whole...

—my recognition of who my people are. who i can trust consistently in times of trouble, in times of joy, in times of in-between. who i can trust with the deeper and bigger pieces of my heart. having these people close and vocally stating to them, and myself, their value in my life did something to me this year in the way of my contentment and grounding that i’m not sure i’ve ever fully achieved or recognized in past years. having persons, a "tribe" if you will, is so essential to a healthy wellbeing.
i am so forward-and-backward-and-all-the-way-around grateful for mine.

—my acceptance of who i am. quite a vague statement for a very in depth realization, but i am going to leave it at that.

—my stepping out of a box i-and-others had built up around myself. in regards to my abilities, expectations, assumptions, limitations... all of which, imagined or not, smothered the person i was made to be. i'm still learning to shed the darkness of this box, but i'm seeing so much more light now than i ever have before.

—my learning to practice mindfulness. recognizing how and when i was fixating too much on the past or the future and not being present---> the most important place of the three to be.

—my intention and continuation of having a 'slow living' lifestyle. in so many new ways. which keep evolving and changing, but as a whole have made up so much of my mindset in regards to so many important pieces of my life this past year. which has only changed me for the better.

in addition to those key revelations and learnings, my vision for the year list (or goals/resolutions list if you will) was the shortest i think it’s ever been. 
i kept reaching to add more, tack on extra and additional, but it felt so forced that i kept erasing and deleting and cutting back again.
simplifying has been a theme of my year as well and it seems even subconsciously i've taken ahold of it in more ways than i originally had realized.
to give you some perspective, New Year’s lists of the past have had categories.
i’m talking headers with subtext, comments and sub-goals. which is all well and good but when it comes down to it, most intentions and desires can usually be summed up in a few words, if not one word.

and so, after looking at my humble little list, i realized the theme for my year (as mentioned on instagram the other night) is....

to create  s p a c e

to stop doing things out of obligation
to let go of things that weigh me down
to cease doing things that make unhappy

you would think that something of that sort would be glaringly obvious and not so hard to halt the doing of, and yet we get so caught up in routine and should do’s and the comparison game and obligation and, more often than not, downright fear that before we know it we’ve woven this tangled web that we aren’t sure how to get out of. 
it’s especially hard when those things have become habit. 
it’s maybe even harder when those things are related to money, as money is a necessity in this world we live in because, well, we have to eat... at the minimum.

and so the last quarter 2016, because i was starting to have somewhat of a quarter life crisis, involved me figuring out what those things were.
what i needed to change.
and, once i did, being brave and proactive about starting to let them go. 
again, i know that's quite vague, but more will probably come out about this as the year progresses and i figure things out.
however right now i'm not able to talk about it because i'm still somewhat in the midst of the figuring-out.
and if there is something i've learned time and time again (because for some reason i need to repeat mistakes excessively MULTIPLE times before i actually learn...) about a phase of this sort,  is that when i share something too soon, it can often change the once positive outcome into a negative one.
i've learned to share and be open once my healing and wellbeing isn't dependant on others reactions to what i've shared.
once i've moved past it.
once i've figured things out.
once i'm solid again, no longer shakable.

because when you share things too soon, even with the most well intending of parties, especially people who don't know you deep down all the way (see first point in list above), unwanted, unwarranted, confusing, misleading advice and opinion is often given in the midst of your journey. and if you invite too much of it, focus too much on it, and start listening to the outside voices more than that of your inner voice, you can step off the path and your journey becomes longer and harder.

so. 
all of that to say. 
i'm headed in a new direction.
i don't fully know what that looks like yet. it might not look that different to some of you. it might look radically different to the rest of you. but that's not really what matters because it's my journey and i'm the one who's a-walkin it.

so here's to all of our journeys this year.
i'm not going to hope that your paths are smooth and straight- for it's the wrong turns and bumps in the road that often make us into better versions of ourselves and we end up being the most grateful for- but i do hope that when you do encounter those unexpected and hard times, you have good people around you to help you through them.
and if you don't: go out and find them.

p.s. you're amazing if you read that whole entire thing.

p.p.s. i was contemplating summing up my year in a list.
a “year in review” if you will, as is my ritual. 
however, as i am one who’s always fighting against being defined by the things i do and people’s perception of that and being summed up in a list of accomplishments (or lack there of) i decided to refrain. and, also, because the value and whole and looking back on a year and all of it's trials and triumphs cannot be adequately expressed in a bulletpointed list.
 

What To Do When You're Overwhelmed & Spreading Yourself Too Thin: A 7 Part Guide by A Girl Who Used To Be The Queen Of Doing Too Much

A very dear friend of mine recently asked me:
"What do you do when you feel like you're spreading yourself too thin but have opportunities that are hard to say no to? There's a lot going on which is a good thing, but I'm feeling overwhelmed."

Oh boy did I have thoughts on this subject.
I used to be the queen of doing too much.
Over committing myself, trying to do it all... I worked myself to death (no really, I would literally get sick with how stressed and busy I always was).
And so when I was writing her a little note about it, I realized I had a lot more to say on the matter than would fit in a text. So I decided to make a list. A list I decided to also share with you. Just in case any of you lovely people also need a little prompting or inspiration as to how to get out from under the weight of all of the things you're trying to do all at once. 
Or maybe you're not doing too many things, but you don't feel content and you aren't doing the right things. This list speaks to that as well. 

We are not meant to overwork ourselves, to be stressed, to be always be running around like chickens with their heads cut off. If you're like this, something needs to change.
Delegate.
Ask for help.
Cut something out.
Take time away for yourself.
Put something on the back burner.
Say no. 

I would really love to hear your thoughts on this topic friends.
Let's help encourage one another to cultivate a healthier way of living!
xo

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What To Do When You're Overwhelmed & Spreading Yourself Too Thin: A 7 Part Guide by A Girl Who Used To Be The Queen Of Doing Too Much

1. Say no.
Just do it. Start saying no. To everything. Okay maybe not everything, but a lot of things. Because you might need to prune and pull back from more than is initially necessary so you have the clearest head possible to start evaluating your commitments. I've found its easiest to start with as clean and empty a slate as possible and add things back as is needed and called for. 

2. Make a list.
Write down every single thing you are committing your time and energy to activity/job/extracurricular/hobby wise. 

3. Pray over the list.
If praying isn't your thing, just get yourself nice and quiet and really and truly ask yourself what of these listed things you really need to do. Sometimes there are things you may want to do but you don't need to do. We can't do everything we want sometimes. Ask what it is You're supposed to do. What's priority. What's best for right now. What's best for later. What's best for never even. Also, sometimes it can seem like you're doing more than you are or stressed more than you need to be, but once you clearly write it down it can free up your mind and help you focus and discern what it is you need to get done. 

4. Trust your instinct/gut/intuition/discernment.
The more I practice this, the more I almost instantaneously know whether or not I should do something when an opportunity presents itself. Even for things as simple as someone asking me to get coffee. If I said yes to everyone who asked me to get coffee or to hang out or to go to an event, I would literally never be home.
And I love my home.
Having time to myself to recharge and rejuvenate is really essential for me so that I can be fully present in the other areas of my life when it's most important. 

5. When new opportunities come business wise- Again, trust your gut.
And say no to most things. I used to say yes to every interview, every feature, every photo opportunity, every collaboration, every shop, every meet up, every craft show and market... But it very quickly became way way way too much. And I realized that most of them weren't even as great as they promised to be, or were worth all of the time and work I put into them for what I got in return. Granted, you need a season of this perhaps to have some different learning experiences, figure out what it is you want and where you want to go. But once you've figured that out, stop saying yes to everything.
Say yes to things that make you want to get out of bed in the morning because you're so excited to be apart of them. Things that you want to do first before all the other things on your to-do list. Things that align with your vision of who you are, who you want to be, where you want to go.
Above all: Do not be afraid of missing out by saying no.
That's living in fear.
That's not who you are.
Opportunities will always be there.
Put the important things first. 

6. Figure out your important things. 
For me: Family, my own well being (health, mentally and physically which also encompasses my passions, dreams and goals) and my friends. Not always in that order but that's honestly what it comes down to for me. The people in my life. I will always put the important people in my life first and before activities and jobs (within reason of course).
This doesn't always look how you would think though. For instance: A great job opportunity that will cause me to miss a friends event will earn me enough extra money to work less the following week so I can take a day off to help my Dad with something important. Or, by skipping a family event because I need to have some alone time after an extra busy work week, which will allow for me to be present and better able to love and serve them at an important get together next time. You get the idea. Just figure out what the important things are in your life to you. Maybe even what your core values are. That honestly was the most helpful aspect for me in figuring out what it is I needed to do with my time and energy.

7. You do not have to explain yourself to people.
You do not have to go into an in depth explanation for everything and everyone you say no to. First of all, most people don't expect that (or a lot of the time even care). Second of all, the people who love and get you, are going to understand. And if they don't.... that's on them, not you.
As long as Your motives are out of love and doing what's best for you and those important people in your life... you're golden.

Don't over think it. 

Simplify

To have a mantra, theme, idea, or even a single word to carry with you throughout the year is not a new or foreign concept to me. However, with the exception of perhaps last year when I determined that 2015 would be my year of travel, I've never really practiced this sort of intentionality in my own life.
Usually I have extensive lists of goals and resolutions that are a little all over the place in their content and theme. And though I do have a few specific goals for this year that I'd like to achieve, the idea of having a single word to carry with me while pursuing those goals, to direct my energy through the lens of this word or theme to obtain them, made a lot of sense to me. 

So I spent the majority of today thinking on what I would want my word to be.
A few came to mind...

Perspective
Mindfulness
Slow
Intentionality
Contentment
Peace
Enough

All great words, but most were to broad and none were quite right.
And then I thought of it. 

Simplify

It even spoke to the issue at hand of trying to choose a word... The irony.
Simplifying my life is something that I've been working on more, especially since the end of the summer. Pairing down my possessions, creating more efficient systems and processes for my business, eliminating stress by eliminating excess.
Not overcomplicating.
Not overthinking. 
Because of this truth as well as this one. 
Just having and doing the needed and necessary, whatever that looks like for me.
Because rest assured that action, simplifying, looks different for everyone. Becoming comfortable with my interpretation of it is part of this exercise as well.
It's not about the trend of minimalism that's been popping up, though there are aspects of that movement I'm all for getting behind, it's about doing less so that I can do more.
Which makes sense if you think about it. 
I don't want to spread myself thin. I want to focus on a few specific things at a time, or even just one specific thing at a time and do it really well, instead of doing a lot of things only half as well.
Quality over quantity.
A theme I've talked about before. 

So here's to 2016 being a year of simplicity. 
Do you have a word for this year?
I'd love to hear what it is if so. Feel free to comment below or shoot me an email.
Let's have some good conversations about it.

Goodbye 2015

So I started the morning of this last day of 2015 with reading my post from this time last year.
It was interesting to see both, how much I've grown since then but also how much I am the same. 

2015, as a whole, was amazing. I hadn't fully realized what a truly incredible year it really was until I sat down to evaluate and think about it. Which is such an odd thing to admit really, but I don't know this year went by so fast that it's taken me until now to realize how much has really happened just in one short year. 
Like, really guys, I went to five new countries this year. Five. 
That alone would make for a red letter year in my book. 
But there's so much more that happened that made this year one of the best yet. Some of it too personal to share, but other pieces I am more than happy to revel in with you. 

Let's review...

I rebranded.
Holy wow was this huge for me. I already have even more new ideas and changes that are going to be introduced in the upcoming year, but having this foundation for my brand and my business, was so very huge for me. I felt much clearer and more focused in regards to my brand and how I represent myself and what my goals are and what my mission is with what I do.
I can't wait to continue adding to it next year.


I introduced a new series on the blog, Thoughts, from the morning and late night (the latter is actually when most of these entries seem to come to me for some reason).
This came about because I rediscovered how much I really and truly love writing. I'm no shakespeare by any means, but I do so love expressing myself and my thoughts in this way. So I hope you won't mind that being more of a thing in 2016 because I think this is just the beginning of a rediscovered love.


I was an ETSY FEATURED SELLER.
Hello, can we talk about how insane this was? A dream come true to be sure. I still have a hard time believing this one. Wowee wow wow. 


Learned how to spin yarn.
Cannot wait to pursue the elemental aspects of various fiber arts this winter. Believe me, it's only becoming more of an obsession from here and I have some big plans for furthering this education. 
(No, I don't have a sheep in my backyard yet but....)


Freaking ran a whole 10k without stopping. Quite a feat for a person who's never run more than two miles max at a time. 


I was a model a time or two (I use the term model very loosely as Meagan is literally the only person who can take photos of me where I'm not portrayed as the true goof that I am 24/7) 


Started another new series I'm still working on sharing photos in from this year, The Urbexing Diaries. See more entries here.


Introduced Travel Dates.
Here's to some great new ones come 2016 yea?


I was featured in Whurk Magazine as their centerfold pinup girl. ;)

Started officially documenting Leney’s Airstream Dream. 
One day friends… One day…

Added heaps of new strips to The Travel Blanket, which is so ginormous now and getting quite heavy... kind of thinking I need to either start a second one, or just add teeny tiny bits of yarn in the future or something because I'm not sure how functional a blanket the size of my living room is really going to be at this rate...


Went to Iceland. ICELAND. 
This truly could be the only note worthy thing I did this year and I would have written off 2015 as the best year of my life I'm pretty sure. 
Planning on finally sharing real non iPhone photos and thoughts from that trip very very soon.


I also went to Ireland, Spain, France and Switzerland.
There are no words really to sum up this sentence. But there will be non iPhone photos forthcoming of those photos as well you can bet on that.


It was the year of travel actually, for I also revisited Maine, Florida, New York, North Carolina, and various places all over Virginia as well as went to Michigan for the first time.
(Detroit in February.... That's all I'm gonna say...)


Helped the sailor whose daughter I am bring home a new boat that I even helped name.


Established that mornings are, indeed, my favorite time of day.


Worked for some pretty cool people and got to stretch my creativity work wise as well as personally in so many various ways with my photography. Something that lapsed a bit more so at the end of the year, but something I'm looking forward to jump starting again at the start of a new one.


I also stretched my creativity with my fiber work in making this commissioned piece that I still really love.


I introduced One-Of-A-Kind Knitwear.
A project and concept I was so excited to finally make a reality. I'm excited to see where it goes this year.


I also released another new knitwear line, The Classics Collection.
A collection I am so very proud of and one that felt so good to share with you all.
It's still up in the shop for anyone who feels like they need some knitwear for the upcoming winter months. ;)


Hosted a pop up event with my knits at Madewell!
Such a cool opportunity. So many lovely girls who work over at that store. Grateful and humbled for the privilege and honor of being noticed and singled out to do that with them! 


Turned another year older (shocker) and summed up some overall things I've learned throughout the year.


Started working with a pretty cool dude at a pretty cool shop on some pretty cool things.
Maybe you’ll hear more about that in the new year…


Identified that slow living is something I want to make a point to live out as well as shopping small whenever possible, and overall living a more sustainable lifestyle. Definitely plan on touching on those subject matters more in the near future.  

And.....
Countless other things that didn't even make it to the blog/instagram.
But again, some things are just too personal and I'm going to keep just-for-me.
2015 was it man. It really was.
Last year I wrote: 

Goodbye 2014.
There are some parts of you I'm really going to miss, and some parts I very much will not.
But I am grateful for all of your parts. 

I find that sentiment still rings true for 2015 (though I have to admit I have a hard time remembering much of the bad from this year because I feel as though it was overwhelmingly and almost-all-the-way-through good). 

So, in closing, 2015... 
I am grateful for all of your parts.


//
Photo cred: Meagan Abell

A New Way To Set Goals

So I want to talk about this podcast I listened to this week.  
So revolutionary for me in the way of goal setting. I think many of you know how goal oriented I am, (let's just do a re cap of goal-centric 2014 shall we?) especially in the way of list making.
But this was a take on goal setting I hadn't heard before (and I've heard a lot of them) and it really opened my eyes to a lot in the way of how to not only set goals more effectively, but how you actually might be setting the wrong goals. Or maybe not the wrong goals per say, but how you might be trying to achieve them in the wrong order. 

I'm going to go more in depth about what I'm talking about but I definitely encourage you to give the actual podcast a listen! The best part is in the latter half, so it might feel long but hang in there and hear the whole thing!

I also just want to say that this post is 100% credited and attributed to Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon of Being Boss and their guest for this podcast episode, Chalene Johnson. Without whom I wouldn't have this content! So thanks heaps to them for sharing these awesome ideas. If you are your own boss, or want to be, I definitely recommend checking out their podcast.

So, because having things written out for reference is really nice, I decided to write down my version of what Chalene talked about. 
So grab a piece of paper and pen and keep reading!
................................................................
Step 1 | 
Write down the following categories

1. Physical Health
2. Mental Well Being
3. Environment
4. Finances
5. Family + Friends
6. Significant Other / Love Interest
7. Career / Purpose
8. Growth / Getting Smarter
9. Pure Joy / Hobbies
10. Spirituality

Step 2 | 
Quickly go through and score your contentment in each of these areas from 1-10.
Ten being the most content.
Don't over analyze this too much, just do it as it comes to you.

Step 3 | 
Take a look at how you scored each category.
Which areas are your lowest?
Are you surprised by them?
The areas that you scored lowest in are main attributors to your unhappiness or lack of goal achievement. Pretty eye opening huh?

Step 4 |
Write your top goals in your lowest scored areas.
In other words make it a point to work first on where you're least content.
Next to each goal write, "what would it take to do this?" The answer is either accountability or money.
Keep that in mind when pursuing these various goals. 

Step 5 |
After evaluating all of the above, ask yourself "What could I do that would make most of these things happen?"
Make that answer your 11th goal.
................................................................

The areas I scored lowest in were my physical health, finances and pure joy/hobbies. I'm going to go a little more in depth with each of these areas to further give an example of how they're affecting my goal achievement.

Finances: While I am pretty savvy when it comes to spending and I don't over indulge very often, I am not as organized as I would like to be when it comes to my finances. I am always behind in my accounting and expense reports and receipt filing which makes for extra stress come tax time. Or, let's be honest, all the time. Because I spend money on my business all the time, and my lack of organization in this area is a constant reminder. Every day. And it has effects on my mental well being more than I realize. Sometimes to the point where it hinders my productivity. 
Not only that, I also want to be more consistent in the amount of income I do make every month so I can save more and be smarter and more planned with bigger purchases and investments. Something I have a hard time evaluating when I can't quickly pull up the answer to what I made on any given month, expenses and costs of business aside. 
So there's that.

Physical health: Last winter and spring I was killing it with working out and eating well. Then came the warmer months, traveling, and... well.. things just sort of fell by the wayside. It's hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle when you don't make it a priority and I definitely was not making it a priority over the summer. This has led to some not-so-great feelings towards how I feel physically and, in turn, mentally as well.
So a few weeks ago I started to take action against that again and I've already been feeling better. So, hearing the podcast and reaffirming that health is one of my lower scores, made total sense to me and just re-motivated me to tackle the whole getting-my-butt-healthy-and-fit again plan that I've already been implementing. 
Which as a result has led to me feeling better and more motivated about my other goals and other areas of my life.
See? It really is all connected.
I think that was the biggest takeaway for me while listening to this honestly. Everything in your life is interconnected and one area will inevitably effect another at some point. 

Pure Joy / Hobbies: What? That makes no sense... I have hobbies.. sure I have hobbies...
Scoring lower in this area initially confused me but then the more I thought about it, the more I realized I really didn't have a ton of stuff I could easily think of that were just pure-joy, simply-for-the-pleasure-of-it, not-in-some-way-work related things.
Of course I have to preface the following with saying that I am extremely thankful that I get to do what I do for a living. Knitting, traveling, photography? I couldn't dream up a better dream job. It is my dream job. However, all of those things were once upon a time my hobbies. Things I did just for fun. And while I definitely still enjoy them, immensely, and can often do parts of them just for me, it's really hard for me to do them apart from a this-is-work mindset. 
And ultimately anything I do in those areas attribute to my growth and success work-wise anyways. 
What were the things I did that weren't fueled by work, a need for money, were just for fun or just for me? 
Hmm.
I had to think about that one for a little bit. 
So finding hobbies, activities and things I love to do, simply just to do them, productivity inducing or not, has been something that's really eye opening for me. 

So. What's my 11th goal? 
Work smarter.
Maybe I'll expand upon what I mean by that in another blog post, but I think this one's long enough for now so I'll end here.
I would love to hear your thoughts on all of this.
Was this in any way as eye opening for you as it was for me?
What are some of your goals?
Comment below and let's talk about it. 

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More goal oriented things...
-Make sure your goals are oriented around, and pushing you towards these things.
-Paul Jarvis and Jason Zook of Invisible Office Hours, had a podcast episode this morning on Goals which is also a great listen-to on this topic.
-While dreams and goals are different, they are connected. Here are some thoughts on my dreams from the archives. 
-Elise also has a great podcast on this topic as well which you can listen to here.
(I am so about the podcast life these days... can you tell?