Exploding into something worthwhile…

“December is a bewitching month.
The grey of cold teases
to explode into something worthwhile,
into a dream of cold,
a starlight shower you can taste,
a cold that does not chill.
― Joseph Coelho, A Year of Nature Poems

I ran across this poem by Joseph Coelho when looking for notable quotes about December to add to the newsletter and this was too beautiful not to share. There’s more, this is just the first stanza, and it’s worth looking up the entire poem.

It has me thinking of the mutability of Winter and the promise of the future. Buried deep below the cold, the dead, and the silence is new life, renewal, and new energy growing, changing, and just waiting to burst forth in the Spring. It takes time though and it takes the quiet, cold solitude of Winter to get prepared.

December is the crunch month for small businesses. It’s the final push for sales before the end of the year, and for those businesses that handmake their products, it is quite literally the month where we are in constant production mode. It doesn’t make for a very holly, jolly time for a lot of us.

I am an admitted Scrooge during December. I put up sparkly, inviting displays at the shop, I craft delicious-smelling and cozy candles and body products and I am genuinely happy to be making and serving the public, but I tend to be a little “bah, humbug” about the holiday. If my home is decorated at all it’s by my husband and kids. I warn all my out of state family members that gifts will not arrive until after Christmas, I can pretty much count on working 24/7, and I’m too tired for festivities.

This is not a call for sympathy or pity. This is just my reality of owning a small, handcrafted business in December and I would not change it for the world! Nearly 6 years in and I still love doing what I do every day! I still love making every candle and hammering out every piece of jewelry. I love seeing your faces light up when you smell one of my candles or slather on some Body Butter or Infused Oil. Highlighting the realities of December for a small business is only to emphasize how January is so important for its quiet, its slowness, and its chance to dig deep and cultivate those ideas that will ”explode into something worthwhile.”

Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year and the shortest day. It’s also the returning of the light. It’s a promise that the sun will begin to extend its reach into the night. It is a fixed point in the year when I know that a rest period is quickly approaching and it’s a reminder that I can and will make it through this busy season. I pulled three cards from the Seasons of the Witch Yule deck this morning and they were a beautiful reminder of what I have to look forward to: Turning Inward, Family, and Contemplation. My husband has a few days off in a row right after Christmas and I will be closing the shop on the 26th and 27th in order to spend those days with my family. I am so excited for this down-time!

I’ll be taking some time to figure out hours for the shop (I’m still planning on being open on Sundays), look at the reports from this year to figure out where we can trim inventory, and figure out release schedules for the new items I have cooking.

In preparation for some downtime and reflection, I’ve already begun looking at what worked this past year and what didn’t. I’m analytics driven and unfortunately, one of the big things that isn’t working anymore are our subscription products. I am sad to announce that we will not be offering our Seasonal Subscription Boxes or our Full Moon Tea Subscription in 2024.

These items, as wonderful as they are, were not profitable for us this year. These two items take a lot of time to craft and curate and they wind up being a struggle for me every month.

Everyone who is currently signed up will still receive their Winter Boxes, but we will not offer the product going forward, so no one will be charged after this Winter Box. By discontinuing these items, I’ll be able to focus on releasing Solstice and Equinox products in the shop as well as online and I will still make some Full Moon Teas in 2024, just not every month.

I always feel like I’m letting people down when I discontinue something, but I’m learning that when I base these decisions on the numbers, I am usually going to head in an even better direction.

On a more festive note, January is my birthday month and I’m going to be 46, so I’ll definitely be celebrating! I want to run some specials during my birthday week (1/7 - 1/13) so keep a lookout for announcements for that on Instagram.

2023 was a doozy in so many ways, and Winter Solstice as well as the New Year and my birthday always bring a renewed sense of hope. Let’s make 2024 the year we take our dreams, hopes and goals and make them “explode into something worthwhile.”

Thank you for reading this incredibly long, and probably the last musing of 2023.

Wishing you the best holiday and a beautiful start to 2024

Love,

Erin