2024 ended in a flurry of activity and business at the shop, but 2025 started nice and slow and I think I’m going to make that a priority for the beginning of every year.

If you’ve been around here for any amount of time you know that I am not big on “resolutions” and that I don’t follow the thinking that the beginning of the year is a good time to get all “out with the old and in with the new!” It’s freaking cold and dark and gloomy most of the time and all I want to do is curl up and turn inward.

So, for the first week of the year, that’s what I did. My family and I were able to get away someplace that didn’t have an internet connection and I was able to read, sit by the fire, and really dig into what I want the shop to be this year. I was also able to get away for a day with my best friend and we both had the opportunity to relax and recharge. This gave me a chance to bounce some ideas off of her and to get back to my “why.” Why do I do what I do? Why do I structure the shop the way I do and could I be doing it differently or better?

My answer was yes…

I tried to think about what it is that drives me and after one of the hardest years the shop has ever had, I decided to go back through some of my old journals and see what Rin from the past had to say. One entry specifically got me. It was one of my intentions from 2018 and it was to grow Earth Spirit to an annual revenue of $18K. It is sometimes hard to see just where you started when you get a few years in. Opening the storefront in 2021 exponentially grew the shop's sales so it was good to go back and remember the hustle of doing pop-ups and events as my only source of shop income. And it was good to revisit the fact that I get to do this for my only job now instead of having to work full-time elsewhere.

So all this digging and revisiting brought me back to my "why."

It's you. Earth Spirit's customers and friends.

I try to always keep this in the front of my mind but it is easy to lose sight when things get hard. But, to be able to offer the shop as a space for community is my deepest desire and I have been brainstorming ideas to keep it relevant and engaging.

My time off also gave me the perspective that in order to thrive, we must keep prioritizing our mental and physical health, and that means leaning deeply into our intuition and listening to our bodies. And not just listening, but honoring the messages we are being given. Sometimes that intuition says to slow down; sometimes it says "not now"; and sometimes it says "go this way." This last year has been a year of deep learning for me personally. I am almost a year into my ADHD diagnosis and almost a year on new medication and almost a full year of consistent therapy. All of these tools have come together for me to help me to stop, breathe, and listen to what my body and my mind is telling me. I have been able to slow down and stay in the present moment better than I think I ever have.

So, with the full Moon in Cancer last night - all the feels!!! - and with the big 1/11 portal that always falls on my birthday, I have been able to really dig down and decide to take some chances and set off in some new directions.

Keep reading for shop details and updates…

January 2025: Revisiting Roots