from thought storm to snow storm

The wind is howling around my home and rattling the windows. Snow has been falling steadily, and is expected to pile up to 6 inches tonight.

It’s been a good hibernation day (love that song by Jars of Clay). With ice on the windows, what else can you do but head for the craft room?

(Wire art by http://blog.birdfromawire.com/)

It’s ironic that the weather is the most turbulent this particular day than it has been in the past few weeks, when my brain was filled with stormy-ness. I’ve spent three months preparing and re-evaluating and self-confirming an exhilarating yet terrifying decision.

It required assessing what is important in life, how I perceive myself, how external factors aid that self-perception, and whether I dare to truly stand on my own rather than take the easy route of ‘conventionality.’ But my life has been anything but conventional, and while I perceive myself to be risk-averse, sometimes the route of (perceived) security can be harmful to one’s health.

So after 18 years of either studying nonstop, working nonstop, or both, it is time to take a sabbatical and determine how to truly follow my bliss. Ultimately this decision has been in the works since 2008 when I first started reading Barbara Brabec’s books on a crafting business. I didn’t take the plunge then, but now know that it was because I needed more preparation.

Today I am in a better place financially, emotionally, and socially. It is time. I get to seize the moment!

So I’ve been busy preparing farewell cards to some special colleagues (a girls’ gotta market, you know?), which turned out to be a lot of people!

Writing them was my favorite part.

Next up are the family cards, which I’ll write over the Christmas holiday. I look forward to a true vacation with the family, and then we’ll see what 2011 will bring!