swim upstream

We live in a world on overdrive, moving at an unsustainable pace. 

Are you caught in the hectic flow, blinded by a cloud of faulty assumptions?

This is the way things are.

This is the way things must be.

Our clients clamor for faster, more affordable.

We can’t afford to lose them.

Our competitors are quicker, cheaper.

We can’t slow down and be beat.

Halt those cheap excuses for a moment.

What if you make a different choice? What if you stop running that maddening race and shift direction? Might your utmost need be to stand apart from that frantic sea? When you leave behind demands for faster, cheaper solutions, don’t you think you’ll be better positioned to usher forth quality, sustainable work?

Realigning focus won’t be easy. Change never is. Yet, stop pointing fingers or shifting blame. The needed change starts with you. No matter where you stand, you can choose to swim upstream.

kitchen insights

Patient cooking experiences continually remind me... 

Immense beauty and reward are found in unhurried acts of living. 

 

[carrot + pistachio cookies adapted from 

sprouted kitchen's carrot cakey cookie 'wiches]

[sweet corn ceviche = more sprouted kitchen goodness]

When you’re already slammed, why don’t you say no?

“We want to deliver the best service.”

Is it really the best service if you’re scattered in too many directions, operating in a compromised mental state? Is it the best service when you have to steal time and energy from all those other projects to which you’re already committed?

If you want to deliver the best service, perhaps what you really need is strength to say no.

snapshot: reframing happiness

Happiness is far from an endpoint. 

Snapshot inspired by Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar.

[click it!]

inspired

Major source of inspiration in my life? Fresh farmers market finds. 

Colors. Textures. Simplicity. Canvas for creation.

imperfect creativity

“…if your internalized view of failure is anything that is not perfect, then you are disempowering yourself from exercising your inherent creativity.”

-  Peter Sims in The No. 1 Enemy of Creativity: Fear of Failure

Oh, snap.

There goes that wall I’ve created -- you know, the one that keeps all imperfect actions and ideas far from the world.

Since I’ve stood in the confines of that safe haven for so long, the idea of releasing imperfect ideas leaves me more than a little exposed. I cringe at the thought of admitting that perfect doesn’t fly in the real world. And yet, I know this to be a gem of truth -- imperfection is an inherent quality of the creative process. 

So what do you say we brave this together, friends? Let’s dare to be vulnerable and allow creativity to flourish in imperfect soil.

sights: bakeshop

Baking in the morning light...

[brown butter muffins via sprouted kitchen]

portland