Time

With the death of our friend John, I spent the week reflecting on how I spend my time.

Here are a couple things I need to keep reminding myself of.

I DO think of time as a precious resource.

From Francis Bacon - Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand...and melting like a snowflake.

And lastly - the very last email we got from John.

 "Life is too short to put everything off for too long.

John"

Fortunately Michael is done with his treatments and now we need to think of how short life is, enjoy everyday and make each worthwhile.

I realize now that we have been holding our breath for the past year, while our business has continued to thrive (with no small thanks to our employees), we personally have had a string of things that occupied our minds instead of allowing them to wander and create - my broken ankle, Michael's health problems, and John's issues then death.

Painting, designing new products, even doing ads takes a clear mind for me. When I'm distracted I can't create.

All of a sudden my mind is clear! Not forgetting or dismissing what has gone on for us - but we don't have these things looming in front of us. So I'm making a list of all the things I want to spend my time doing over the next few months - other than be busy at Carolina Creations with Christmas.

- painting of the home at the corner of Craven and Johnson Streets for home tour poster
- finish my painting of the garden and back of the Attmore-Oliver House I started in February
- read some books and articles and get them off my desk
- finish my 2013 calendar
- plan the 2013 calendar of events for Carolina Creations
- plan our vacation to Florida
- do some new calligraphy pieces
- complete 3rd set of coasters
- do the 1/2 dozen paintings that have been floating around in my mind for a year.

Time to get started!

Jan Francoeur