Hello Thursday!
Here's a quick throwback to last Saturday when I was photographing with Sam and working with the newest addition to Moop, Emily Slagel (hello she’s the best and possibly exactly what I’ve always needed and wanted in a creative idea collaborator! And those of you in Pittsburgh would know her from her previous life as creator/shop owner behind Mid-Atlantic Mercantile, Joan Shop and her current life with The Vandal (one of our fav restaurants)) and I was firmly aware of the manifestation of things I’ve been working to evolve for the last year. There have been a few rough patches over the course of the last 12 months. One of which had me questioning why I spend all my time, energy and resources to do what I do. I think any person operating in a creative space can speak to the moments of inevitable burnout when you are tasked with always coming up with new and interesting things + you manufacture those things + you are the sole person responsible for that creative energy. That moment, as crushing as it was, was a reminder that there is not something else to do, this is what I do and I’ll do most anything to protect it and keep it growing. But, to do so, I need to be taking better care of myself. Actually, I have a responsibility to everyone who works with me to be sure I’m always doing my best to keep the machine running. I think I’ve been influenced lately by the openness of Jen Gotch and all the others talking publicly about the challenges and realities of that pressure. I turn 40 next month and have been dreaming of meeting my daughter for some straight up vacation time. I can only think of one time in the last 20 years that I went away for longer than 4 days. I think it’s time for me to officially plan an actual time off real vacation to celebrate my 40th birthday. So I’ve decided to have a sale to help make that happen.
Use the code: AREALVACATION for 15% off your entire order. Good for anything in the shop, including The Backpack no.3, which is basically the perfect summer bag.
CLICK THROUGH HERE TO SHOP THE SALE! (from now through Monday, June 18th)
much love and many many smiles,
Wendy
p/s we've had so many reminders of very real mental health illnesses in the last few weeks with Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade making that painfully current. I’ve been fortunate to not suffer from extreme mental health challenges but acknowledging emotions, listening to them, letting them exist and be your reality for a moment are an important part of growing and learning from yourself. I’m learning to let what I feel not get in the way of what I need to do, unless it should get in the way.
