I am a day late with this monthly check in. It seems as if I have been a day late in everything lately, constantly tumbling into the next day without completely realizing where the last one has gone. Which is weird as I had been working primarily from home since before the world turned upside down on us all.
Generally, April is my favorite month. I love seeing the seasons change, typically within the course of a week or two here in Georgia. It is also an eco/ sustainable/ ethical focused month, housing both Fashion Revolution week (April 13th - 18th) and Earth Day (April 22nd). And recently I found out that one of Project 333's start dates is April 1st, and I just happen to be starting on that this year as well!
My birthday is also next week which I keep forgetting about. And Arlen and I started dating in April, 5 years ago. So there is a lot to love about April for me.
But it all seems strange at this moment in time. I haven't been able to articulate what I am feeling right now because it is a mix of sadness, change, transition, disillusionment, fear of the unknown, guilt... I mean it's truly a mixed bag of emotions and thinking or talking about anything outside of what's happening in the world can feel very frivolous.
Elise Joy has been sending weekly emails to her subscribers and she seems to always know how to put things into the best of words. In her latest newsletter , she was able to acknowledge what is currently going on while simultaneously gifting permission to re-evaluate the plans we all had for this year. She gave permission to tear up out to-do lists and burn all our goals in an effort to pivot and as an act of forgiveness to what our past selves had hoped for in the future. It was a truly wonderful thing to read on the first day of this new month, so thank you Elise!
Looking back on March, even with all it's craziness, I was able to accomplish a lot of my goals and plans....
- I worked with LDH Scissors for 2 out of 3 days for the Sewing Expo (quarantine happened on the third day), and had loads of fun with the owners- They are basically the Canadian version of Arlen & myself and we all got along so well!
- Published 3 out of 6 planned blog posts.
- Finished up the tester version of my new pattern, the #UTFleur , and sent it out to my testers on April 1st!
- Started on the #100DayProject (Or did I start that in February?). I am currently on day... 45/100, so nearly 50% done! And I've only skipped a handful of days, but more than made up for them in extra long days of homesteading work :)
- Did my first LIVE video on Instagram for LDH Scissors.
- Released my first Free Pattern of the year, the Lavern Utensil Wrap
- Listed a chunk of my Destash fabrics & notions & samples & books for sale with a promise to donate a portion of the sales to local charities & small businesses during these uncertain times.
As I list things out, I realize I actually did a lot even though everything shifted about two weeks into the month.
For April, I hope to continue in my efforts of being more present, unloading excess, and redefining my version of what success looks like.
APRIL PLANS
Looking at my calendar, April looks so different now than it did two weeks ago. All of our travel dates have been cancelled which is ok, I just feel awful for those we had to cancel on.
I will be spending my birthday out in the sunshine (as long as it doesn't rain!), sipping coffee on our back porch and listening to the birds sing. Perhaps I will get my hands dirty in the garden and harvest some of the first spring veggies that have cropped up. Our peas are doing SO WELL after having failed the past two years, probably due to my planting them later than they liked.
This is a pic from last week- they have gotten even bigger since then!
This is a pic from last week- they have gotten even bigger since then!
I have some DIY's I can't wait to share with you all that revolve around eco-living and are just plain fun- I hope they bring some joy to your days!
I am also starting Project 333 (as I mentioned above) and plan to record my progress starting today (I forgot to snag pics yesterday!). I have recorded a video for this project as well, but with everything going on, I am not trying to rush my video editor into completing it right now. Blog posts and pictures will do well I think and we will come back with more content when things are a little more level!
And lastly, I plan to work on a few of my new patterns! The Fleur will be coming out the 4th week of April (Yay!!). I am still working on the Matilda updates- this is such a lovely dress but causing me so much grief mathematically, haha. Every problem I solve seems to foster new issues I hadn't yet seenor been aware of! So we shall see when that pattern makes it's re-appearance!
I think that is it- I hope to take April in good spirits and focus on my intent moving forward while finding my way back to normal, whatever that may be looking into the future.
How are you working through this time? Do you have goals for the next few months or are you just taking it one day at a time?