Published October 24, 2009 | 
Starting back at the beginning: What from my original Ideal Day 15 or so years ago worked out? What was most important and what could change?
I don’t live in a 2-story house on the Texas gulf coast (a future goal for a vacation home perhaps?), but I do own my own home in a historic artist community.
My current business is online, though I have co-owned a (successful) gift shop in College Station. I say successful because we were earning a profit when we made the decision to close the shop so myself and my co-owner could both move away from College Station.
Supporting other artists is still an integral part of my goals, and now thanks to affiliate marketing, I’m able to do that.
Living in an artistic community is also still a priority, which is why I chose the house and neighborhood where we live now – walking distance to an arts community, glass-blowing studio, deli, restaurants and bars, and festivals twice a year – not to mention live (usually jazz) music almost every weekend. None of this was expected and now I couldn’t imagine living without it.
What priorities do I still hold dear?
- Community
- Artistic Creativity
- Artist Co-operative
- Helping Others
- Learning
- Business
- Cooking
- Animals
- Math & Programming
In my Ideal Day, these were all key factors and my day incorporated each with a perfect balance. What I find interesting are the things I included without realizing their importance at the time, much less my own abilities. I had only started making jewelry, but had never painted or drawn anything (not counting grade school, up to grade 6) much less thrown a pot or worked on ceramics. That’s right. Never. These were only things I wanted to do. And since I wrote my original Ideal Day, I’ve done all of them and managed to keep them in my life in one form or another. I didn’t own half the cookbooks I have now, had never written one (or considered writing one) and had never written my own recipe for a cooking contest. Yet, somehow, cooking dinner for friends was a priority then, without realizing how much of one it would become now. I included a database of my own making at the time because I thought I would use an existing program I was familiar with, such as FileMaker Pro
Since my goal now is much the same as it was then, it’s easy to see the importance of Business and Community in my life. I strongly feel you can’t have one without the other. I believe I’m closer than ever before to achieving my dream of financial independence through multiple income streams while maintaining community support and connections. That’s what our sites are all about. 
Published October 21, 2009 | I promised "My Ideal Day" as it was "then" (on my first reading of Wishcraft). I don’t have the written version anymore – meaning I don’t know where it is in my multitude of journals. But I envisioned it so clearly in my mind, it’s become more of a fond memory for me … even though the places and events of that day never fully came to be.
My Ideal Day Then (as it was prior to achieving many of the goals I set for myself. Note that this is past tense, although for Your Ideal Day, you should write it out in present tense.)
I woke up just as the sun started peeking into the lace curtains of my bedroom window (No blinds in this house, that’s for sure.) My bedroom and office were both on the 2 nd floor of a two-story house, situated so the sun would wake me in the morning and I could still look out onto the ocean of my Texas gulf coast home.
The first order of business for the day was to check the computer and print out any orders that came in through the web site overnight – because there were always orders – and respond to emails. Next, downstairs for a cup of hot tea, followed by my cat, who went almost everywhere with me (this was written even before I got Sassy, and that’s just what she would always do.) Finally, dressed and ready to go – with printed shipping labels and receipts from the online orders – I would walk to my nearby gift shop, an easy 5 minute walk from my house, and located just off the beach in an artistic community within easy access for tourists as well as locals.
The shop would be already open by a trusted employee (a local art student), and already filling with customers, as it was the start of summer and a beautiful day out. My shop would specialize in offering the work of local artists as well as classes in the studio located in back. Our studio would be equipped for almost anything an aspiring art student might need, from painting and drawing to pottery to jewelry-making and lapidary.
On this day, our studio had a visiting local artist teaching a jewelry metal-smithing class, which I was looking forward to attending. Before the class started, I took a quick inventory of our pottery because I knew we needed to re-stock a few items soon – some of which I would be making myself in the days to come. In addition, I gathered and boxed the orders for shipping, getting them ready for pick-up by the postman. I also helped a few customers in their choices for gifts to take home – and every customer walked out with a purchase and a smile on their face.
After attending the class (most of which was like a refresher class for me as I already knew how to do it), and enjoying a light lunch with my fellow students – all of whom made a purchase of the instructor’s jewelry from our shop – I helped my employees clean and close up and took the day’s receipts with me to enter into my database at home.
Arriving home, I went straight to my over-sized, farmhouse style kitchen to start preparing dinner for a dinner party that night with the jewelry instructor, my employees and other local artists. (And of course, to feed the cat, who greeted me at the door coming home.) After a wonderful dinner with lots of wine, laughter, conversation and compliments on my food, I went with the cat back to my office where I prepared the day’s receipts and inventory (on a program I’d written myself) and checked email and orders one last time, getting everything ready for another great day tomorrow.
From Wishcraft:
With pen in hand and as much paper as you need (or a tape recorder if you prefer to dream out loud), take a leisurely walk through a day that would be perfect if it represented your usual days – not a vacation day, not a compromise day, but the very substance of your life as you’d love it to be. Live through that day in the present tense and in detail, from getting up in the morning to going to sleep at night. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up? What do you have for breakfast? Do you make it yourself – or is it brought to you in bed, with a single rose and the morning paper? Do you take a long, hot bath? a bracing cold shower? What kinds of clothes do you put on? How do you spend the morning? the afternoon? At each time of day, are you indoors or outdoors, quiet or active, alone or with people?
As you go through the hours of your fantasy day, there are three helpful categories to keep in mind: what, where, and who.
Posted in Business, Wishcraft | 
art, artists, barbara sher, Business, ideal day, Wishcraft | 
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