10 Ways for Makers to Balance Work and Family During the Holidays

The holidays can be a very stressful time for makers. We have to make the money while the money is there to be made kaching!

(see my post from last year's Team Eco Etsy blog on 16 Ways to Sell More on Etsy this Holiday Season)
and we want need to have an actual holiday with our families.  

The memories, like the money, don't get a do-over in January.

Before I was a maker I had a mall cart business and before that I was a bank manager.

When I was a bank manager the winter holidays were easy-peasy. We had three holidays in November and I always used a personal day or two in December for a long shopping weekend. Clients weren't so focused on their money and upper management took a lot of time off, making my job much easier.

I was still busy but had time to do all the family and school holiday stuff. Cookies were baked, stockings were hung, presents were wrapped, carols were sung

(yes, I'm channeling Seuss this morning).

When I started my mall cart business my holidays did a complete 180. I would open every year on Halloween, work every day until Thanksgiving (which I would COOK - what was wrong with me?!), re-open on Black Friday at the crack of dawn and come up for air at 3pm on Christmas Eve.

We'd put our tree up that night and the gifts I gave my family were purchased during slow times within 50 feet of my mall cart.

My daughter was a teenager then and I'm still convinced, although I have never been able to convince her, this was not a totally terrible way to do the holidays. Some years she was lucky and I was near Pac Sun and Claire's. Other years she would spend Christmas morning moaning over Yankee Candles and Mrs Fields Cookies. She still grumbles about it - I think it was character building.

Selling online is kind of the middle ground. We go totally nuts, if we're lucky and prepared, and then things slow down when it becomes too late to ship and we get a few days of holiday time with our families. Hanukkah falls into that last week this year, too, so if we celebrate that one, we just need to close a couple days earlier.

Here are some tips I think will make the next few weeks easier:

1. Let's get our own holiday shopping done NOW. Our days of casually strolling the mall and local shops during December ended when we decided to open a business and sell the things we make. Also it goes without saying if we want people to buy our handmade whoseewhatsee we should be supporting other makers by buying theirs. If we want people to be shopping local we should be shopping local. If we want people to be shopping online we should be shopping online.

2. Focus on what works. If our Etsy shop is outselling our website this isn't the time to re-vamp our website. Focus on our Etsy shop. If we sell better at craft shows, put our focus there. If our best selling product is our floral lime green belt focus on selling that in other places or other sizes or other colors. Don't waste time thinking about how to sell that thing that never sells. Our time is limited - do what works.

3. Say No. We can't do everything. "No" is hugely empowering and yes, we may have to live with the stomach upset afterwards. That's what ginger is for. Really, it works, buy some this week.

4a. Stick to a strict schedule. Let's determine the dates for our last supply orders, last discount sale, last shipping, etc - now. These kind of things need to be pretty much written in stone. We know how long it takes to make our whoseewhatsee, set a work schedule that works. I have a giant calender and like to write things down. Technology tools are available. As soon as we have the dates for the kid's play and concerts and any holiday parties we want to attend, add them in.

4b. Don't stick to a strict schedule. There are no absolutes. The days of someone telling us how to do all this ended with our final paycheck. If our schedule can't be a little flexible there is no point in being self employed. It's usually the only perk.

5. Eliminate distractions. We don't have time to be checking Facebook or Instagram or answering emails all day long (I  do this stuff while my tea heats and my kettle whistle puts a stop to it). A TV on in the background makes me nuts and I doubt makes anyone more productive. I could be wrong though. I get a few Audible books to listen to while I work, although on really crazy days I need silence. And yes, I can hear my racing heart as the clock ticks toward 5pm when my post office closes.

6. Get help. Delegate. It's all hands on deck time. It's not really illegal to use child labor if they are related to you and paid in gingerbread cookies. Any time saved on one activity adds time for another activity. You can't just triple the amount of things you normally do and expect to function. Hire or beg for help.

7. Let stuff go. The housekeeping police will not be at our house checking for dust bunnies this holiday season. Something has to give.

8. Respect other people's holidays, too. Let's not have some poor woman in Peoria overnighting us supplies on December 15th we should have ordered in November. Expect that the mail will be slow. We don't want to freak out at the post office and create a scene that will be the talk of the town for years to come, trust me on this one ....

9. Everything that can wait until after the holidays waits until after the holidays starting today.

10. Family comes first. They have to because we have to live with them plus of course we love them and all that jazz. Prioritize accordingly. We really don't have to be shipping until the very last minute. December isn't the end of the money train. Next year and new opportunities will be here soon enough. xo all

New Moon in Sagittarius, November 22nd - FRESH START & LEAP OF FAITH

my sagittarius aromatherapy locket

On Saturday, the Sun moves into firey, fun loving Sagittarius and the Moon follows a few hours later. This gives us another zero degree New Moon.

(if the New Moon was 5 days after the Sun, we would have a 5 degree New Moon, etc)

Once again we won't have the preparation we usually get with the Sun clearing the way ahead of the Moon and easing us into new territory - it will just be BAM 

welcome to the the bright, new world of Sagittarius!

This will feel much better than last month's headfirst dive into the murky waters of Scorpio. This one will feel like we are pulled out of the deep ocean and tossed onto the sand and into the LIGHT!

(there could still be alligators patrolling the shores though, so don't lose a leg coming aground eyes closed and blinded by the sun - take a little time to get your bearings but don't take too long)

Sagittarius is a fun-loving sign that rules travel, freedom, adventure, legal stuff, higher education, good luck, faith, religion, prayer, optimism, problem solving, truth seekers, boldly going where no man has gone before, the quest  -

it also rules carelessness, taking shortcuts, thinking we are right, making assumptions, throwing pink paint on problems and hoping they will go away, overconfidence, impatience and superficial fluff.

Sagittarius is a mutable sign. The mutable signs prepare us for the change into the next season.

Mutable signs are service signs and Sagittarius is in service through the exploration of Truth - this could be legal truth or political truth but its most especially spiritual truth - its highest purpose is enlightenment and expanding what is known. The lower level energies rule religious wars, legal battles and political bullshit.

Sagittarius is a fire sign like Aries and Leo.

Fire signs like action - their reasons for taking action are different though. Aries energy wants to climb the mountain, first because it's there and second because there is a competition going to see who can get there first.

Leo energy wants to climb the mountain because they have heard there is a film crew waiting at the summit and they have a new GoPro themselves and will be broadcasting daily to their fans through Facebook.

Sagittarius energy wants to climb the mountain to see what the hell it feels like to climb a mountain and how it feels to reach the top. They want the adventure; they want the quest.

(they could be unprepared and throw their back out 100 yards from the summit, too, then they will turn their convalescence into a party for the sherpas and make THAT the adventure)

This is the energy we are all stepping into now. What part of your life can use a little adventure? That's the space to use this energy most effectively.

For makers during the holiday season there are a couple things to think about:

First, fire signs are great initiator energy (see my post here about using astrology to determine the best dates to launch). So, if you have something new to get out there - the two weeks after this New Moon - don't use the zero degree Saturday - are prime time for a universal kick start! Most especially when focused on Sagittarian ideals.

Second, this is great energy to over commit and take on too much. Then we will under-deliver and disappoint. Better to under promise, over deliver and come out on top. Set up your deadlines right after this New Moon and give yourself some cushioning. Keep plans do-able for now. It is easy to get carried away when we come into this much light this quickly.

The real gift of Sagittarius is the freedom to be who we really are - how are we going to use this gift?

As always, write your New Moon affirmations down - I sometimes use strips on paper and bowls of rice, so I could jiggle them around now and then - but again this month I am feeling the urge to burn them and just know they are done. You don't have to make stuff happen with this, you just have to see what comes up and then take the action that feels right on that.

Trust the process. We have cast our spell.

People always say that affirmations "only work if you take action". And this is true, but not in the way most people think because the affirmation is action.

It sets the energy in motion. Words are not just words. If done properly, in the right frame of mind, it lines us up energetically with the thing we are seeking. The new moon is a time of darkness but there is lots of hidden action in the dark.

(yes, even that kind, all creation starts in the dark after all)

Look at what kind of experiences have been coming your way lately. How have you called them into your life?

There is often a wave of resistance that arrives when we begin stepping into our power. This resistance can manifest as physical health problems, relationships that mirror our shadows, self-sabotaging "mistakes" or when it seems like “fate” intervenes and creates road blocks or sends us  back to “feeling and playing small” - back to square one.

This "upper limit" thing, set by familial programming and energy patterns (although I believe we came on to this planet vibrating at exactly the frequency that drew us to our family) that is so common when we are in the process of shifting our self-definitions and expanding our influence and responsibility. Something gets in the way, often something that appears to be outside our control - this is all illusion of course, but how do we work through this? How do we move outside our energy patterns?

A thing we can do right now and it sounds like a small thing but there are no small things - is to set a few affirmations within the energy of this New Moon - it will just take you a few minutes of concentrated effort. Do it SATURDAY MORNING or afternoon if possible. xo all

just because she's beautiful doesn't mean you aren't - part V - repairing our comparing gene

See Parts I, II, III, IV

So, I have been re-languaging my verbal life and finding it actually is re-languaging my inner life. We are either congruent or we fall apart after all.

Positive language (positive meaning certain) is a nemesis of scarcity thinking. Scarcity thinking results in comparison. Comparison is the thief of joy (to quote Teddy Roosevelt). Nobody gets to steal our joy and we certainly don't want to be tossing it away ourselves. Let's not do that.

If it means we have to step away from Facebook or Pinterest or the cafeteria at work or whatever space triggers the 'compare' gene for us, just step away for awhile. Maybe a long while.

Another way to keep from comparing ourselves to others is by pursuing things that cannot be measured. This isn't some kind of cop-out, this is the actual stuff we are here for. Love, happiness, generosity, empathy, compassion, beauty, humility - how can we measure any of this? The more we remove ourselves from society's definitions of success the less negative impact these representations have on us.

Aging is a perfect example. There is simply no way for women to grow older and stay sane without letting go of modern society's definition of beauty. And, of course, the same can be said for men and women of all ages and photo-shopped images and surgically corrected people.

Aging is particularly powerful because we either hold on to something that is definitely leaving or we let go, trusting something better is on the other side. And it is. Anytime we let go of our need to "compare", we win, because the spaces we think we are coming up short have no power over us anymore.

We can also literally change what we are looking at. Anytime we find ourselves comparing our inside to someone else's outside - and this applies whether we come out on top or bottom of this no-win head game - we can take a walk. Go outdoors. We can allow the change in our surroundings to create the change we need in our thinking. This always works. And if the feeling comes back we can just take another walk - not only will we have calves of steel, we will have made friends with all the dogs in our neighborhood and maybe even an actual person aka neighbor.

(of course if this change in scenery takes us to our neighbors gorgeous flower gardens let's not compare them with our own wilting begonias - remember if the grass is greener over there, it's probably because they water it)

I used to be envious of a neighbor's beautiful roses until I started growing my own. They are a lot of work. Mine will probably never be up to her standards of remarkableness. I am perfectly happy with them though. And now, knowing how much work she puts into hers I am grateful I get to enjoy them without having to actually maintain them! I moved my desk this summer for a better view.

Which brings us to gratitude - another way to stop this comparing syndrome is to be grateful for what we have (which always attracts more).

Look for chronic patterns. Some moms get tense when other moms are bragging about their kids. So, if we do this - we recognize it. We don't bury it. We don't judge it. We just look at it. We ask ourselves what this tension is really about. It is never about the other person - the one who is annoying us with her story about Janie's latest win on the soccer field. They are just mirroring an issue for us.

The Sun is in Scorpio until November 21st - this is the time to look deep at what is really going on with our triggers. There is great energetic support to release the stuff that isn't working for us now.

Something I have found that really helps with the 'compare gene' is Bach's Flower Therapy treatments. I took a course about them and have a couple books. I am not an expert though so do your own research and trust your heart.

(I would say trust our gut but if we have been filling it with junk food, it's not much good to us)

I like Oak, White Chestnut, Willow, Chicory, Impatiens. I am going to do a post about them next week. Until then enjoy this amazing Autumn weather - although it felt more like July than late October here in New Jersey today! xo all

New Moon Solar Eclipse in Scorpio, October 23rd - let's go for the NEW

prestige by iNeedChemicalX

We have a magical New Moon in Scorpio on Thursday. This is happening at 0 degrees so its ability to start something potent is extra powerful! First the Sun will move into Scorpio, followed by Venus (our values, love, money), then the Moon joins the party.

We had this same degree solar eclipse in October 1995 - so think back to what "new" was created for you then and what has happened since. The New Moon energy boost lasts about two weeks (so take some new action within this time frame). The stuff put into motion now can last for years.

Scorpio is powerful so be prepared to commit to what you start now.  Actually commit as if your life depends on it ... because it does.

There are multiple beneficial aspects to this one for all of us. This New Moon is conjunct magnetic Venus which adds up to a major new beginning around love, money, values or self-esteem. Neptune in Pisces removes our rational upper limits and encourages us to dream big. Mercury stations direct two days later and we get the answer we need to move us forward. On Monday, Mars moves into Capricorn and we have the energy and drive to make this thing happen.

If you have any planets 0-4 degrees in a fixed sign (Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus and Leo) you will feel this eclipse energy the strongest.

Scorpio is the sign of elimination so old desires will end now - the void left behind will attract new stuff that lines up with who we are becoming.

This is the time to jump on to a more beneficial train track - why head to Camden when there is a train to Maui leaving, too!

The void we might feel now does not need to leave us with shaky legs - we can know the right stuff will find us. Shaky isn't always a bad thing. We can be shaky with fear or shaky with excitement. In its highest incarnation Scorpio is the Phoenix who rises from the ashes. There is no more powerful sign in the zodiac.

With a Scorpio what you see is what you get - and what you don't see is hidden on purpose. Keep that in mind now. This eclipse, as the energies play out over the next couple weeks, will create focus. I wrote an earlier post about how Scorpio allows focus that might make this point clearer.

A New Moon is always an opening - let's trust in our ability to make an amazing life in this wild, wonderful world!

my scorpio aromatherapy locket

As always New Moons are excellent times to plant seeds with our intentions - everything starts life in the dark after all.

Setting intentions for Scorpio stuff during a Scorpio new moon is very powerful.

These intentions can include (list courtesy of astrologer Jan Spiller) - empowerment, change, crisis skills, self-mastery, sex, soul mates, financial partnerships, avoiding power struggles, secrets, psychology, charisma, restoration, forgiveness, obsessions, compulsions, strength, loans, debts, taxes, inheritances, contracts, revenge, jealousy and guilt.

I usually list my affirmations here but this month mine are words I need to write just once and burn - here is a link to an example of affirmations and tips from another month. xo all

just because she's beautiful doesn't mean you aren't - part IV - the I should be doing "more" syndrome & women who wear purple

she's probably in here somewhere

See Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

(yes, if you are reading this in one sitting, you will need a cup of coffee ... and a muffin ... and maybe probably an aspirin)

I thought I was doing pretty good re-languaging my life when we went out to dinner for my daughter's birthday last week and half way through the meal my daughter said I was driving her crazy (in the way only a mother can do) by repeatedly saying "that's not bad" every time I ate something new.

You might remember from my last post this was exactly the kind of language I have been trying to avoid! Ugh!

I thought ditching the "n'ts" when I was saying something positive would fix this - I did keep myself from saying "this isn't bad".

I said the exact same thing in a different way though.

I guess it's a challenge for me to say, "this is good", or great or delicious without consciously pushing my tongue to use positive language. When I stay unconscious with my language I just naturally want to go the other way. I can see my rules need to be expanded and I am an Aquarian with a Scorpio rising (plus an oldest child and tone deaf singer). I really hate rules.

(and now that I have written this I can see clearly how my rule making is negative, too - always about what not to do - see how this stuff works? - it is deep and tricky - it's like I have swallowed a whining David Blayne.)

This series is not about negative language and this is all subconscious stuff although I do think this way of going through life makes us more prone to a scarcity mindset. It doesn't matter which comes first or what creates what with this stuff - I do know we can often change something by changing something else.

I attended an astrology class years ago and one of the other students was always complaining about work. She loved her job but her relationship with her co-workers was a mess. I can't remember the specifics. I do remember this woman always wore purple. Maybe just this one thing was enough to annoy the hell out of people. I don't know. Totally possible.

One day the teacher turned to her and said, "Enough already about your co-workers. Get a dog". Now this teacher was a master astrologer and enough of a guru to this woman for her to immediately head to the nearest shelter and pick herself out a beautiful blue eyed Akita mix.

Within days her relationship with her co-workers had greatly improved (pets and work are both 6th house in astrology - as well as health, routine, etc -  so a problem with one often can be fixed with attention on another). She even started to join her office mates on their long Wednesday lunches, something she always griped about before. She thanked the teacher for his wisdom.

We noticed over the next few weeks she never complained about work anymore. She complained about her dog all the time though. This woman had Aries in the 6th house and Aries needs an adversary. I am not sure if an adversary who pees on the carpet is better than one who sits next to you in a cubicle, maybe she could have just joined a gym and fought with the treadmill .... changing something by changing something else works though.

I don't think negative feelings that come up after seeing someone else's bright shiny new thing is about jealousy. I don't want anyone else's life. My life is pretty freaking amazing. I just know after seeing some of this stuff I don't feel so great.

For me, it creates the "I should be doing more" syndrome. For example my Facebook friend who is always on vacation has me thinking "why haven't I created a business that can run without me so I can be laying on the beach somewhere warm and tropical while lockets and cork continue to fly across the country and into my customer's waiting hands and mailboxes." I feel like what I am doing isn't enough because I actually have to do it. What kind of ridiculous thinking is this? We can't win this game.

I will tell you my next two steps in my final post next week. The pie really does have an infinite number of slices - there really is enough for all of us.

xo and happy weekend all

NOTE - We have a New Moon in Scorpio next week (I will post about it then) - it's an eclipse and at 0 degrees Scorpio - a 0 degree eclipse in the complex sign of Scorpio is a true new beginning. Stuff we have been trying for could now line up for us. Mercury will move direct two days later and we will know what to do. Get ready.

We are heading into Scorpio season - shop for a Scorpio locket necklace for your favorite Scorpio and get a FREE extra lid set now.

FULL MOON Lunar Eclipse in Aries October 8th - relating to other people without losing ourselves

you at last by meluseena

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth and Full Moon form a nearly straight line and the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow. We don't need any special gizmos to view it and it won't hurt our eyes like a solar eclipse, so we can feel free to go outside and get a really good look! The lunar eclipse is from about 6:30-7:30 AM EST tomorrow morning.

An eclipse is powerful stuff. It will eclipse something out of our life or out of our way.

Some people may have felt the effects of this around September 8th-10th or will feel it around November 8th-10th; most people will feel it within 5 days of the actual eclipse.

This Full Moon is in Aries and is the culmination of that monster New Moon we had in April with that bad-ass Grand Cardinal Cross. Aries is the sign of the warrier (and the worrier) so there is no sitting this one out.

Just before the Full Moon, the Moon will square Pluto and conjunct Uranus setting off a Uranus/Pluto square. This is the energy that creates big changes.

Pluto in Capricorn will be squaring Venus in Libra. This feels very possessive - we want what we want with this one. What will we do to get it? What if we finally get clear that what we want is not what we thought we wanted at all .... well, I guess we are going to find out.

This eclipse energy is about opportunity. 

This is the Aries/Libra polarity (which is more than a locket - warning shameless plug ahead - but the locket is pretty awesome, too) of independence vs. interdependence, how we give, how we take, how we relate to other people without losing ourselves, what flock we are flying with these days and of course our closest relationships.

We've got Mars in Sagittarius wanting us to move into new territory and take action with something foreign to us (maybe spirituality or travel or higher education or people from another country or distant relatives or grandchildren) and we have Jupiter in Leo aspecting the Sun and highlighting something expansive that gives us purpose and is something we can be proud of.

These may be the means we use to move through this - "me vs. us", "assertion vs. compromise" stuff - everything we see played out in the larger world is happening in our own lives and heads, too. We probably won't be able to sit on our feelings right now (try to keep a cool head though) or the sidelines either. And we won't want to!

If something in our life is doing the opposite of this - that could be the stuff that will make way now.

If it seems like really good and important stuff is being eclipsed out - relook (Mercury is retrograde the "re's" rule now) at the situation - we may be able to see the honor in the timing of this passing away and the gift left in its wake.

Here's to clear skies and long walks in the moonlight tonight and tomorrow night everyone! xo