Stymied Again…But NOT!

Here I go again….Getting my webstore up and running has brought back a lot of memories from three years ago, when I first set up my new business.  Not all are good.   Every day I spend several hours trouble shooting technical issues with the web store.  This is why I have not gone "live" with it yet.  Surfing the web, it seems everyone and his brother has a web store.  So, why am I the "unlucky" one who can't seem to overcome technological obstacles?  In response,  I think about the health care web debacle, and I start to feel less unique.  I realize that hidden behind all the smoothly running shops, is the undisclosed history of how it all got going.  Unless there was a public mishap, or some reporting,  we see only the final "success".  

Usually, in the mainstream business and retail world, we don't share our struggles. But rather, we choose to present the finished, polished product.  We act as if struggling means failure, or stumbling makes us "less than."   I am sure there is some marketing value to this.  Everyone likes a winner and the impression of success can actually attract real success.  Perhaps also, in the historically "male" world of business, this is a form of posturing that men employ as a matter of course.  Maybe, women in business put on these same masks and hide our struggles in order to fit in and compete in the male domain .  Or maybe, we just let our fear driven egos get the best of us too.   

As I move forward into Phase II of my business, I am finding myself right back in the fear and uncertainty of dealing with new and unforeseen obstacles.  But I can see that three and a half years later, I have grown.   Instead of my ears ringing  in panic with each snafu,  I think about what is being asked of me.  Instead of viewing problems as the enemy, against which I must do battle,  I now view them as my guide. Perhaps leading me elsewhere.   When hiking, we walk around the thicket and follow the trail between the obstacles.  We don't begrudge the tree or the boulders that block our path.    

Most recently, I've come to feel that through my frustration, I am being guided into compassion and softness.  I feel connected to the many others like me who are working to find solutions and overcome obstacles.  I believe I am also being guided back into creativity and beading as way of side stepping the technological barriers before me.   I had put so much of my creative expression on hold in order to get the website and webstore going.  I sorely miss that magical part of my life.  I will still sort out the technical glitches. But, today, I realize that I cannot make this the focus of everyday's work.  It will happen in the background, while I put my creative life back in center.  You will have to stay tuned, to see what I mean, when we do finally go live.  

Meanwhile, I look forward to being back in the glow of creativity, wrapped up in that radiant energy, where time stops and the heavens shower me with inspiration, like divine confetti. As I write, the vision becomes clear.  I see, spread out before me,  little beady pools of color and glimmering light.  I must go, now.  You understand.  

NEW CLASS 

Fleur du Jour with Margo Field

2 Saturdays, 6/14 and 6/21

1 - 4 PM, $55

This lovely necklace can be worked up in many flower variations.  We have 2 on display in the shop. Stop in and be captivated.  

ONGOING FREE EVENTS

• Wire meet-up with Sylvia Abeyta - Tuesdays 1-3 PM
• Friday Happy Hour -  4:30-6:30, free pattern and refreshments every Friday throughout the Spring and Summer.  

Buds Bursting

garden poppy blooming
"heart" opening

Greetings Beady Friends,

I must talk about Spring.  Our new clock time has arrived just as the fruit trees in Albuquerque are blooming.  Explosions of delicate blossoms are all about town.  Meanwhile, most trees remain bare and I still have a wonderful view of the Sandia Mountains from my home.  It is that quiet, warming, tease we get, here.  We go out without jackets and sometimes with shorts. Our gardens are begging for our attention, and we want to bend towards the earth to jump start them to their natural beautiful conclusion. But, before we can slide into summer, the winds will pick up and we will be accosted by tumbleweeds,  dirt in our ears, and dusty yards.  We will hide indoors, and shrink away from the sound of rustling branches and rattling windows.  We will see the sun shining in our vast blue sky and become impatient with another unsettling Spring day.  Then suddenly, it will be hot, and quiet, and our summer, if not the calendar's, will be upon us.

I usually brace myself for Spring here - it seems so changing and unpredictable.  This year I will try to enjoy every moment of it.  Wild wooly winds will not unhinge me.  Tumble weeds rolling under my car will not derail me.  I will cozy up inside with family and friends.  Perhaps I will bead and blog while the weather rages outside.  I will also go out into the mess of Spring to notice hatchlings and bursting buds, butterflies, and bees. I will let my hair be blown and my eyes water up with the wind.

I will let Spring swoop me up and I will not resist the light and renewal that is offered.  Like the hard-shelled seed that cracks to let the fragile, light-seeking cotyledon emerge, I will take the risk to grow… and I welcome all fellow travelers who are ready for their next ride.

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."   -- Anais Nin

Let us become a field a flowers.

Bead on, dear friends.

HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON!

Julia

Please note our new hours starting this week!

Monday 2-8 PM (no change)

Tuesday - Friday 10 am - 6 pm

Saturday 11 am - 4:30 pm

Sunday CLOSED (no change)

photo source

Be Your Own Clay

Greetings Beady Friends.  It has been a BUSY back to school season for me.  Both of my children started new schools and it has been a whirlwind for all of us.  At my daughter's "Back to School Night" on Thursday one of her teachers described a curriculum that the school is using to help the students identify aspects of character.  He mentioned grit, zest, self-control, and others.  But, not before saying, "We are already who we are, but the students are still forming and becoming who they are going to be." Really?  Yes, I understand what he meant about the students. But I wanted to say, "Umm, Teach, speak for yourself, because I am still forming."

Twelve years ago my life did seem set on a path.  I had completed many years of schooling and training and was enjoying a career as a pediatrician with a faculty position at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and Medical Director of the New Mexico School for the Deaf.  My husband and I owned a house and because of our chosen careers, we were blessed with financial stability.  We had a social life with friends (many of whom were also physician couples).  We had a little boy,  and were planning and hoping for a second child.  We were, in my mind, "healthy, wealthy, and wise".  Perhaps, if all had continued along as such, I would have felt like this teacher claimed, "already who I was."

But,  in 2001, my life started to shift, like the inevitable slide of tectonic plates along fault lines.  It was one thing after another. I had a profound emotional reaction to the attack of September 11th that lasted for months.  I became pregnant and delivered a beautiful daughter. I was struck ill after her birth and was hospitalized.  Over months, I slowly recovered (discovering beads in the process). My husband became critically ill, and then, thankfully, recovered also.  I was forced to begin a process of healing that led to even more changes...divorce and the loss of my social world, lifestyle changes, leaving my medical career, buying Poppyfield Bead Company and learning a whole new business. Most recently,  it has been the end of a 9 year relationship, and now, adopting a dog.

The control and goal-oriented stability that characterized my earlier years before 2001, seem matched in degree to the upheaval and transformation of the the years that have followed.  If there is one thing that has been steady "post 2001", it has been Life pushing me to let go of my own ideas about myself.   At first, I envied, those I thought "had it all together":  Long term marriages where the couples raised their children in a single household.  Healthy people, without my particular issues.  My friends who are now seasoned, experienced and confident in careers they've had for 20 years.

Lately, there has been another shift for me.  Yes, I am beginning my 50th year, and on my own.  I am in a profession that I know little about.  I have health issues that demand my close attention to how I live and care for myself.  I realize now, that my particular path - the twisting, turning, rugged one, has been a beautiful life full of self discovery and interior adventures.  Letting go of who I have "thought I was" to just be the person I am meant to be, is a holy journey for me.  It is the only way I stay sane.  At times I am just empty, and at a loss.  I feel like a lump of clay, unformed and unfinished, wondering,  "Who am I?  What is next?"  "How do I do this?"  But then I open my mind to listen to my spirit.  This is my essence, my inner guide in this life.  For I am and must be, both the sculptor and the clay.  And then... I begin again.

...NOW ABOUT BEADS...

LABOR DAY SALE  - ONE DAY ONLY

15% off all Toho Permanents and Miyuki Duracoats - 

(all colors beginning with P or D - this includes the new and lovely PF and DF colors)

BOHEMIAN WRAP BRACELET - ROUND 2

SAT 10/5 10AM-NOON

Monday's Labor Day free class filled within 3 hours of my posting.    Monday 9/2 at 2:00 I will start accepting registration for "round 2" which is a repeat of the class at the date above.  Pay $10 to register and get a $10 gift card at the class. Since I am selling you the class, I do have to pay tax to the state...so you will too. Still, 70 cents is a good deal.  I have handouts on the technique, which I will give to you.  Thanks to Bonnie Vigil, for directing me to that online resource.  

CLASS CANCELLATIONS

Margo's Floral Fantasy (9/21, 28, and 10/5) and 
Wendy's Diamondback Pendant (9/3) 

due to lack of enrollment

NEW CLASS

Intro to Kumihimo with Wendy Speare Sat, 9/21 10-noon, $25

STILL ACCEPTING REGISTRATION...

Hollywood Sparkle by Julia Hecht
Inspired by Laura McCabe
my long-time inspiration

Hollywood Sparkle with Julia (me) on 3 Monday evenings

9/9, 9/16, and 9/23 -  6-9 PM $75

Peyote Premiere with June Malone - 2 Tuesday evenings
9/10 and 9/17 - $55

RARE VINTAGE TINY STRIPED BEADS

Very rare and very tiny next to a Japanese 15/0

These are very unique, very tiny, and of very limited supply.  
I brought them back from New York City on my last trip. 
They are now tubed in very affordable quantities. 
Larger quantities are available on request. 
When they are gone they're gone.

BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS

We are overflowing with books on beadwork and wire work.  

There are great new titles and old classics.  

Melinda Barta's DVD on beaded clasps. 

Marcia DeCoster's Beads in Motion.  

Come see our "Lark Books" section and all the great books we've got.  Get Inspired!  

THE NEW BEAD AND BUTTON IS HERE

Featuring a cool "Bead Stud" bracelet by Maggie Rorschyk. 
Yes, we do have bead studs available for purchase
to create Maggie's hip and trendy design!

PERLEN POESIE TO SHIP ON 9/6

If you ordered issues 17 and 18 in advance, I'll have one for you.
If you missed this great opportunity, don't fret.
I will be taking orders for the winter issue sometime in the fall.
I'll be posting when the Fall issue arrives and again when 
it is time to order issue 19.  
It will be possible to order back issues.  

I do ship for an additional charge. 

HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON!