New year, same me only with a few more softened edges.
Quick recap…
Quit a four year salary paying job. Went into 2023 as a full time creative. Made use of my freedom by going home more often, traveling frequently and always taking the long way anywhere. Decided I was worth more and ended a lot of friendships. Which ironically made space for more suited ones instead. Started a new public studio in Scarborough. Financial security and mental peace plummeted at an alarming rate. Took on enough work for a team of twenty but I was only one. Fires ripped through the mountains of the South, threatening to take it all and I didn’t sleep for a week. While the fires raged every commission ordered went out on time. Made it home just in time for Christmas lunch in a sleep deprived state of being. Otherwise good and you?
Needless to say since August things have changed a lot. Moving a studio from the privacy of your own home into the public eye has been a shock to the system. People are interesting to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, I am also a people so that counts for me too. I’ve just clearly gotten used to a certain way of life and now that certain way of life feels far away and out of reach but I think somewhere in the eye of the (public) storm I will find my vision and my reasons for stepping out of a life I actually really loved. A life I deliberately quit a full time job for in order to go back to. By now I should know that I don’t sit still for long and if an opportunity doesn’t present itself I will easily create one. Bad habit or feisty pioneer? Something to ponder.
I like to think of a new year as just another oceans tide that has come along. Low tide presents the end of the year and a new high tide arriving as the clocks strike twelve to ring in another three hundred and sixty five days of living. At times we’ll be treading water and at others we’ll be exploring the rocky shores; sometimes peacefully wading through the shallows and others navigating our way through wild weather, wind and ocean sprays.
I’m taking some much needed time out on the Garden Route. Seeing family, trail running, a little bit of surfing and a whole lot of strategizing and rethinking my business. The last four years in Cape Town has set a solid tone for taking change, growth and expansion in my stride and this year won’t be any different. The Stefni shop will re-open on the 9th of January.
Catch you next week as we ease into the swing of work life balance for the year to come.
Stefni