It Takes Time
It Takes Time - Originally Posted February 18, 2017
If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.” ~ Barack Obama
Wow! I haven’t written a post since December 1st when I was relating my desire to share with you some awesome people, ordinary yet awesome people, who are making a difference in their community. You know, those rays of sunshine, the ones that get overlooked amidst all the concerning news stories of the day. I still plan to share them with you, but it has proven to be a larger task than I realized. It makes sense; people making a difference are busy people! That’s how they affect change. So, bear with me, I have two awesome individuals on deck coming soon! Oh, and keep those names coming if you know of someone who fits this call!
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the meantime I have been inching along to a big transition. Come the middle of June I will no longer be a full time child care provider, with artist, author, illustrator, blogger, and creativity/SoulCollage® facilitator on the side. I will be moving into my full time creative realm! This is really, really exciting! It’s also bittersweet and honestly a little scary. I can’t completely see where these first steps are taking me, but the path is there and I will find my way even if I am bumbling along at first. I know the possibilities are endless and I have so many projects rumbling around in my head I can’t wait to have time to work on them!
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. ~ Socrates
Bittersweet, for sure! I will miss my little people. A couple families I provide childcare for will still bring their children here once or twice a month as the school calendar dictates – I love those little people and the energy they share, the honesty and innocence they embody is so refreshing; I will look forward to those days each month. Looking at the world through the eyes of children has been a real gift the past 7 years. Its time to move forward now with this plan that has been percolating as I have watched these little cherubs grow and one by one head off to school.
She understood that the hardest times in life to go through were when you were transitioning from one version of yourself to another. ~ Sarah Addison Allen
Of course the scary part is saying goodbye to my monthly paycheck, yea, that’s scary. Its easy to encourage other people to chase their dreams and remind them it will work out if they are following their passion. It’s a little different when it’s your own income plummeting! Initially that is, everything is a transition, make space for the new by letting go of the old! I do trust in the Universe/God as well as my husband, who is amazingly supportive of all I do! I also trust myself in my choices and know deep inside this is my calling, and I have loved every step of my life that has brought me to this launch pad.
For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn’t understand growth, it would look like complete destruction. ~ Cynthia Occelli
To share some of the exciting part that lures me on…I has several bits of news. This Spring Epiphany, written by Bonnie Kaye Kirk and illustrated by yours truly will be coming out. It shares a journey of transformation, a picture book for sure as I created 24 canvases for the book, but the audience is not children this time. Bonnie is a music therapist and an amazing soul. I also have a new book series called ‘Another Leah Jane Story’ I’ve created with book 1 coming out early summer, When Nana Says… is a very fun story of a little girl with a big imagination who is not ready for naptime. This series of books was inspired by the real life Leah Jane, one of the children I have been caring for. My artwork will be on display in Carrboro in June at The Looking Glass, grateful for that opportunity! I am also excited to be teaching Summer Art Camp for elementary age students for three weeks this summer. I also will facilitate a SoulCollage® Introductory workshop on June 17th, can’t wait for that! Whew…that’s enough excitement for one post!
The butterfly that makes a home of its cocoon will never fly. ~ Rev. Deborah L. Johnson
I hope that sharing my transition might inspire some of you to take that leap you have been contemplating, desiring, dreaming about. Now is a good time, life is short, go for that thing that makes your heart sing! Enjoy every day!
The trick is to enjoy life. Don’t wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead. ~ Marjorie Pay Hinckley
Light, Love, and Laughter,
Shannon
