Evolution of this Blog

Trying to stave off those feeling of guilt for not having posted for so long! We had a fantastic show in Dade City - the best we'd ever done - in spite of having had the most challenges to date. First off, our wonderful Live Oak tree that provided so much welcome shade and retro "Old Florida" feel to our booth was gone! As were at least two others, upon suspicion that they might have harbored some dread tree disease :-( :-( :-(

And the second day of the show, Sunday, was not the best of weather - intermittent showers, and gusts of wind. It all cleared up around 12:30pm, and then we had to start packing up at 3. But in spite of these downers, we did very, very well.

We also got to get to know another couple of dealers a little better, by going out to dinner with them. We pretty much yapped and laughed and screamed and finally remembered to order our food before the kitchen closed. I think we were all surprised by how much we enjoyed ourselves.

That show, at the end of April, was the end of the season for me. I've been working slowly but steadily on the website again, after a break of (gulp) four long months.

And I've been so quiet on this blog front, and so much has been going on, kind of like this extremely strong undercurrent that's been commanding all my attention and energy, yet it hasn't seemed to be the correct venue to address the subject here, either. But I've come to the conclusion that in trying so hard not to address that very subject - my personal elephant in my very little room, if you will, I do myself more and more of a disservice; and I also don't give my the credit for the struggle that I am, indeed, winning, in spite of my own expectations at times.

So that's a lot of words for trying to say that I think I'm slightly changing the character of this blog: to focus just as much on this antiques and collectibles business called Time Travelers; but now also to address how I manage to maintain (or not) the business while at the same time taking care of my mental and emotional health.

For you see, I haven't held a "proper" job for several years now, due to some troublesome issues. This business is the most responsible venture I've been able to apply myself to, and I'm so grateful for it. But there are days, if not weeks, in these past four months, when it's not been possible for me to attend to the business in any way.

I guess I'm trying to say that I'd like this blog to become more about what it's like to manage our business while I live daily with the issues of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. (Whew! There, I said it.) It casts rather a different light on the whole consistency of the business; the continuity; and yes, the integrity. I'm more determined than ever with Time Travelers to keep moving onwards and upwards, even as sometimes I make entirely backwards strides in my mental health :-\

Whether or this blog keeps its readership will be interesting. But in the name of authenticity and professional and personal growth, I think it's the right time to take this turn...

A little blip

I sent out postcards to my very small database of customers regarding the upcoming show in Fort Lauderdale on August 2nd - and got an interesting phone message on the machine from one lady. She was the dealer from the Dade City show who had bought the picnic tin basket. (I could have guessed that she might have had something to say about the invitation to the show, having remembered our fractious customer-salesperson relationship!)

Gist of the message was that there was No Way On Earth she would consider driving All The Way to Fort Lauderdale for a Lousy 60 Dealer Show. You could just about hear the capitalizations in her voice! Oy vey. But, since we were at it and had her on our mailing list, we could send her 4 free passes for the Sarasota show in December. You gotta love the nerve of this woman. Oh, and she wants to look at any beaded purses we might have to sell to her. Actually, I'm a little afraid of showing them to her - what a bully she was! I'm thinking, instead, that perhaps she needs to be deleted from the mailing list. I don't need to get feedback like this from my tiny customer base.

I've taken a little break from the nonstop work on the eCrater store. There's no shortage of work to be done - and I'm not even midway through the Expo 67 project - but I'm acknowledging that I'm suffering a bout of depression that has broken through and left me feeling, for lack of a better word, utterly paralyzed. I see the work that needs to be done, but I don't have the energy to do it.

So I'm allowing myself a bit of a break while I allow some adjustments I've made in my self care and lifestyle to take effect. Trying to be good to myself. This internet store will be waiting for me when I'm ready to tackle it again. It could be just a few days, but I'm not putting myself on a schedule, but letting my mind and body tell me when they are ready to enjoy themselves again. This is such an enjoyable part of my life - I refuse to let it become the chore that depression can make it.