enJOY it

I am so excited to head up to Portland today for WDS.

Last summer Paul came along but sadly it didn't work out this time so it's just me adventuring out. Sort of like a business trip. Actually, exactly like a business trip.

I get to travel "for work" a few times a year. Sometimes it's a conference like this. Sometimes it's a teaching opportunity. Sometimes it's to get together with other friends/entrepreneurs and talk life and work. I always look forward to these trips very much.

I run a very one-woman show over here. I have started to hire out some stuff (thank goodness, my Canon printer is great, but it wasn't quite up for the task of printing 2000 GTWBs) but it's otherwise just me. Making all the decisions, calculating all the risk, doing all the marketing, processing all the shipping and handling all the customer service. It's totally isolating and totally inspiring.

About 75% of my creative work happens completely in my head. Ideas get generated, sifted, veto-d and processed…usually before I even speak them out loud. Then 15% of my work is discussing at length the tippy-top ideas with my parents or Paul or both. But usually this is very frustrating because it's mostly me having a conversation with myself and they are trying to figure out what the hell I am saying (it's probably a lot like talking to Ellerie with less peek-a-boo). And then 10% of all of that work is what rolls out to the world via the blog or social media or products.

When I think about it, it's intense, but I never think about it because I hardly know anything different. I can't imagine another way of working.

All of this to say: I am so looking forward to my weekend. These trips by myself always feel like a corporate retreat of one. I have some time to relax. I have some time to write the first draft of a few big blog posts that have been rattling around in my head for the past few months – called "Own Your Sh*t" & "Two Years of Motherhood" – (which could actually be the same post in a lot of ways). I have some time to read. I have some time to come up with 12 killer ideas for the next round of GTWB illustrations (for the 2016-2017 book). I have some time to walk and wander and take photos.

And of course, I have some time to sit and listen and get inspired… without panicking that it will be up there next. I can't wait.