A long time ago, I owned (youâll have to stick with me here, âcause itâs a little weird) an artisanal sugar business where I made shaped sugarsâŠi.e., not cubesâbut almost any other shape. Believe it or not, it wasnât all that unsuccessful for what it wasâI got my products into Crate & Barrel, among other strange-but-true wins. Having said that, if there is a more challenging business than picture books to be inâwell, shaped sugars just might be it. đ Looking back, it was amazing I was solvent, let alone eked by, but thatâs a story for another day.
Despite eventually trying everything but cloning myself before deciding it wouldnât scale properly, that business taught me so muchâand connected me with such inspiring people! (The food business is, in some ways, very similar to the book worldâitâs all about being unique yet commercial, expressing oneself, and having fantastic taste.) And, one of the many fun connections I made at that time was working with illustrator and entrepreneur Stacie Bloomfield on some product packaging ideas for gift packs of sugars (back when she was mainly on Etsy).
Would you like to see the mock-up gift box we worked on?
Anyhow, both Stacie and I have moved on to bigger and better things since that time, but I (of course) still get her emails, and a recent one was about using daily affirmations. The main gist was that she uses them and recommends themâand then she linked to an older blog post of hers for examples.
It all feels rather woo-woo, but alsoâwhy the heck not? Who am I, who really, really enjoyed a gong-ringing sound bath last year, to not give something fun-sounding a shot?
So hereâs what Iâm trying out.
Elayneâs Current Five Affirmations
A good laugh is a priceless gift.
Brave people are just scared people who are still doing the scary things.
I have more people cheering (and fewer people jeering) than I ever think.
I can trust that Iâm a Creativity Room of Requirement.
I am more me now than Iâve ever been. (Good job, Elayne!)
I mean, I just said these things aloud to myself right now, and honestly, I already feel a little more capable.
What about you? Do you believe in the power of daily affirmations (or affirmations in general)? Do you have any?
Your affirmative-action friend,
Elayne
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YES! (That's me, affirming you ;)) I'm not so daily as much as occasionally, and my affirmations come directly from The Artist's Way and as such are somewhat serious and definitely spiritual, as am I, but whatever the content, the practice is very grounding. One of them is "I am willing to create" which is always a welcome reminder that I AM, in fact, willing to do this hard thing!
I love this Elayne! I certainly like the idea of daily affirmations. And there have been times in my life, when reading a positive quote has got me through tough times. I think as Iâve gotten older, Iâve become more cynical though, at least towards myself! So they havenât continued to have the same impact as they once did. But maybe I just need to find different affirmations. Youâve got me thinking!