When I started Dragonfly Reflections in 2007, it was at least partly about having a place to park my name when I commented on other blogs.  Over time, it became so much more than that – a place to share my experiences, my dreams, my mistakes… all in all, it became the place where I parked my heart.

A LOT has changed since those early days… back in 2007, I was a yoga nut – practicing daily, working on a teaching certification, planning the rest of my life with yoga at its center.  I was fully ensconced in corporate America – still somewhat career-minded, with retirement as a distant dream.  I was also a fairly new empty nester – feeling my way through the world as an individual vs. somebody’s mom.

Today, I’m working to approach my life from a more balanced perspective.  I’ve rounded out my original single-minded yoga focus with art, walking, good food and stress-reduction practices.  I’ve left corporate America behind and am working to excavate the skills and experience I gathered throughout my 30-year career and adapt them to a new path.  And, I’ve come to terms with the empty nest – have come to love it, in fact, as an opportunity to sink into myself and grow in ways I never imagined when I was busy raising my daughter.

Blogs and bloggers are a diverse lot – I see many people who’ve kept the same blog for years on end and I see others who change to new blogs with some regularity.  Some people, like me, have blogs that represent their lives in general; while others pick a particular topic and focus on that alone – maybe even maintaining multiple blogs to represent their ranging interests.  One thing I know is that I am not someone who can maintain multiple blogs.  For one thing, I tend to be a woman of few words (any of you who know me will probably chuckle a little at that understatement) and I worry about having enough content for multiple blogs.  For another thing, I don’t believe I could successfully divide myself between multiple blogs.  I don’t fault anyone who does, but it feels a little like child rearing to me – I’m not sure I would have been good at spreading my affections across multiple children and I’m not sure I could spread my attention across multiple blogs either.

Soooooo, after much pondering and waffling, I’ve decided to close the chapter on Dragonfly Reflections and open a new blog, onejanuaryday.com, and you’ll notice I’ve even taken the HUGE (for me) step of registering a domain!!

Dragonfly came from a place of deep transformation at a time when I was working hard to juggle the me I wanted to be with the me I had to be to fit the world I lived in at the time.  Because dragonflies are such transformational creatures, it seemed especially fitting to hang my virtual placard from their tails.  Today, I find myself less in a state of transformation and more in a place of beginning anew.  While I’m sure new transformations await, I feel less like changing and more like settling in… to who I am and who I’m meant to be.   JanuaryDay will give me a chance to reorient and also to gather my eggs in the same basket; sort of a branding thing that I feel I need to do with the new etsy shop and other dreams I’m chasing down this twisty turny new path.

The Dragonfly archives will remain here, just in case anybody (besides me) is interested in where it came from and how it evolved, and JanuaryDay will start fresh.  It will still be largely a personal blog, as Dragonfly has been, but I’ll probably talk a little about what I’m making and selling too – although, I promise to balance the two topics and not bore you too much with the marketing hoo-ha.

I thank you so very much for your dedication to me and Dragonfly over the last five years – it has truly meant the world to me!  As the Dragonfly chapter of my life concludes, here’s to a bright future for One January Day – I hope you’ll join me.

blessings,
Kelley

“Done” might be a stretch, but I’ve taken the first baby steps and my Etsy shop is now open!!!!!!!  If you look over there on my right-hand sidebar, you’ll even see a nice little widget that includes a few of my items.  I have lots more to come over the next few days, but I’m really taking that “baby step” thing literally and trying not to be overwhelmed.  Who knew there was so much involved with starting an Etsy store?!!  From product photos, to alluring descriptions, to estimated shipping costs – I had no idea there would be so much to think about and get flummoxed by.  Thank goodness for a visit from my biggest fan today with some much needed “snap-out-of-it” encouragement or I think I might have ended up hiding in a corner of the closet with my blankie!

A little about my shop…  I’m still not entirely sure how to describe my “product line” but will say it involves color and scraps and time-worn layers.  I’ve named the shop One January Day as a tribute to this new path I’m starting down – both in terms of the new beginnings presented by these precious January days and in honor of the new steps I’m taking towards a more purposeful and heartfelt life and career path.  I want this January state of mind to guide me forward with an ever-present sense of adventure toward fresh ideas and a bold and brave approach in all I do.

More news to come, but wanted to be sure I shared these first steps with you – I can’t thank you enough for your support and encouragement!!

I splurged on a new toy yesterday.  It wasn’t my fault really – I ran by Sam’s Club Tuesday for a couple of things and there they were!  A taller-than-me stack of Canon T2i camera bundles.  I walked away without one Tuesday, but it haunted me all night and, when I realized one of the items I purchased had to be returned, I think it was all over.  It must have been kismet though, because I ran into someone on my way out who wanted to buy my old XTi – she came by today to got it!  Can’t hardly beat that!!  I see a nature trip in my very near future (not to mention some serious product photos for that fabled Etsy store a’mine)!

Today, I finished reorganizing the studio – pulled a piece of furniture from another room (a small, glass-doored cabinet my grandfather made me many years ago) and filled it with all things colorful.  Totally IN LOVE with it!

Also added some inexpensive closet storage pieces that fit almost perfectly under my windowsill (can’t stand anything that covers all that luscious light).

Beyond that, I’ve been cleaning out drawers and clearing away the MANY little to-go packs of ephemera I’ve made over the years… the ones you make when you’re going to a class and they say, “bring little bits and pieces to use in your collage.”  Well, every time I get back from one of those, the little folder or box or whatever full of little pieces has gone into a stack and oh what a holy mess I had!!  But, it’s all tidy now and I even finished last year’s travel journal – will try to share soon (plus the full enchilada in my flickr gallery).

Next on my list is those elusive product photos, but I did some test shots and am MUCH pleased.  Etsy – here I come!!!

I’ve mentioned Rob Brezny and Free Will Astrology a few times over the years, so bear with me as I go there again.  I just adore this man – his horoscopes always make me laugh, while hitting home on just what I need to hear.  Whether it’s the weekly freebies or the annual predictions for the year, he always pegs it; always leads me to just what I knew in my heart I should be looking for but hadn’t quite worked out in my head how to get there.

Mine is to get going on completing that Etsy store I keep teasing (you AND me) about.  I’ve registered it and even have some stuff to put IN it, it’s just a matter of taking that next step and PUTTING the stuff up there.  In my defense, I’m futzing with camera issues, but I’m starting to think it’s my subconscious way of stalling.  Sooooo, I’ve been officially Double Dog Dared to get her done!  I’ve added a badge over there in the right-hand side bar and I’m telling you for extra measure.  I’d be most grateful if you would gently nag me to get this done by the end of January.

I just spent two of the HAPPIEST days playing in paint and paper and gel medium with this most amazing of teachers… so full of knowledge (which she shares most freely) and so very down to earth about who she is and what she has to offer.  I was a little star struck for about five minutes, then it felt as though she were my next door neighbor come to play.  And, oh my, what fun we all had!!

I’ve taken a TON of classes now… both online and in person… and the one thing I find over and over is that the superbest  of stars (Judy Wise, Sarah Ahearn, Donna Downey, Sabrina Ward Harrison) are mostly just like you and me… trying to do something that provides a means of making ends meet and allows them to feel content and complete in themselves and the world around them.  I think one of the things that draws me so much this type of learning (with its heavy emphasis on ART CLASSES) is that I’m continually searching for the formula that would make my life work in the way I want for myself.  It’s not that I really want to be famous and I’m fairly certain my art will not leave any lasting legacy for humanity, there’s just something about the community that seems to gather for this type of work that somehow feels like home.

For now, I’m content to continue seeking – trying on different art styles, learning from different teachers; but, I’m starting to recognize the danger in spending so much time seeking that I have no time left over for actually doing or of being so heavily influenced by superstar teachers that I’m not sure who I even am as an artist.  As a wanderer, it can be easy to get lost altogether.

After my first two weeks of retirement, the one thing I’m certain of is that I’m not ready to do nothing.  I’m not sure yet how my own special skills fit into the bigger plan, but I know art has a role to play.  Somehow.

The thing I have to remember, as a seeker/wanderer, is to take time to look on my own doorstep, to remember that the answer I seek is likely one I will find (eventually) right here at home.

I’ve thought alot over the last couple of months about how I’ll craft my days.  Should I get up early and exercise, do yoga, eat a healthy breakfast, blog, create, meditate?  Or should I sleep in and let the day unfold?  I’ve considered writing out a schedule and carefully planning each day – scheduling chores and creative tasks so they’re spread perfectly evenly across a reasonable set of working hours.

I had this idea to get up early today and photograph my first free sunrise.  At 7am this morning, part of me was inclined to just stay in bed, but my adventurous side won and by 7:30am I was out chasing the sun.  It felt a little like ditching (not that I ever did that ) – there I was toodling along the lake road, looking down on the traffic below rushing to get to work or school or wherever, while I casually searched for the best view of the sun.

My horoscope for this week says I should work on challenging barriers, look for “a breakthrough that once seemed crazy difficult or beyond [my] capacity.”  I’m not sure where that might take me, but I’m ready for it.  Ready to throw out the schedules and the “normal” course I might follow and do the complete opposite… to stretch my boundaries and do extraordinary things.

My last official act as an AT&T employee was to post the above Out of Office message and that, as they say, is all folks!

I woke this morning with the vivid memory of a dream. That happens pretty rarely these days, so I decided to take notice by writing it out here.

I was standing before a mirror, surrounded by various items of clothing, trying things on to see what would fit and make me happy. I realized I was taking quite a long time and there was some unknown group of people waiting for me, but I continued trying and abandoning pieces in an increasing frenzy. I finally found a top and bottom that I liked… soft cashmere-like, in beautiful sunrise colors, but as the garments settled on by body, I noticed both still had the security tags attached, leaving ugly, uncomfortable lumps. I stripped them off in frustration and stormed out of the room to join my group – dressed only in a bra and panties.

When I got there, nobody seemed to notice what I was wearing (or, more to the point, NOT wearing) and when I apologized for my tardiness, someone who looked alot like an old boss said, “no worries we were just waiting to play the game of Life with you.”

And then, of course, I woke up and have been thinking about the dream’s messages ever since… the idea of frantically trying things on to see what might fit (jobs, dreams, hobbies, beliefs?); the worry about what others might think, only to find they weren’t thinking at all (and especially weren’t judging); the realization that I, without any pretense or costuming or anything, was all that was needed to play the game of Life; and the players themselves – the people who filled that room included family members, mentors and friends who I sense care about me – people who have known all along what was in me and were just waiting patiently for me to figure it out for myself.

I sense the message is at least partly about where I’m headed (not to mention a mirror of where I’ve been). It didn’t exactly give me a roadmap or a step-by-step to do list, but it sure did suggest some pretty strong clues… don’t try so hard, honor the journey, go with the flow, you’re doing better than you think.

I’ve noticed alot of 2011 year-in-review posts around the internet and considered putting one together to share with you today, but to be honest, I’m sort of inclined to just move past 2011 and forward into whatever comes next.

The past year has been sort of a year of holding for me – holding onto unwanted pounds, holding on as I looked forward to the freedom of retirement, holding onto old wounds, not to mention an old illness that reared its head at the beginning of last year and held on the whole year long.  Don’t get me wrong – there was wonderment in 2011… I actually met one of my art sheroes, returned to SAW for the 3rd time, and made a TON of amazing connections with some really amazing people.  But, I’ll admit I sometimes struggle to let the good outweigh the not-so-good.  So I’ve decided, rather than try to sort it all out and put on a happy face, I’m just going to move forward.  Shake off what felt bad about the last year, quietly treasure what felt good, and move toward the light of the new year.

2012 is shaping up to be a momentous year – I registered an Etsy store last week (!!) – more details soon, I have a long mental list of projects to work, classes to take, friendships to kindle, health practices to cultivate.  Plus the stars seem to be aligning for something good this year (check out Free Will Astrology to find out what my favorite astrologer is predicting for YOU) – Brezny’s reading for my first week (I’m a Cancer) was along the lines of “quit sitting on your fears and GO FOR IT!”  There’s also the whole Mayan calendar thing cooking for 2012.  Some are predicting end times, but I just don’t buy that.  I do believe we are entering a new phase of existence and I like to think it will be an improvement over the power-hungry, self-centered nature of the past.  I think we’re entering a kinder, gentler time and I’m most definitely ready for that.

So here’s to 2012 – may it be a year of kindness, may it bring freedom and renewed energy, and may it open the door for compassion, self-realization and dreams-come-true.