It’s been nearly four years since I posted to this blog and much has happened and changed, as I’m sure it has for you as well!
Let’s start with the obvious… this is no longer the Gifted Blog. After eleven wonderful years, we closed down the shop in the summer of 2022. Gifted was an amazing decade-long adventure that I will always cherish. Carrying on with my own creative endeavors, it didn’t feel right to bring the name “Gifted” with me into the next chapter. Gifted was me and Mom bootstrapping a one-of-a-kind shop on Main Street. My next chapter, Fisher Pickens, is me continuing on my creative journey here with my husband in our 74-year-old cottage with 2 basset hounds and 13 chickens. What does that creative journey entail? Great question. I’m not quite sure yet.
I absolutely loved my time at Gifted and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. However, as anyone who has ever run a small business can tell you, they take a lot of time, attention, and energy. I put every waking minute into the shop and other plans fell by the wayside. Mostly this meant plans involving our home were put off. I didn’t have the energy to decorate the house or garden or bake or any of those other cozy things I love about having a place to call home. But like I have said, I had focused on the shop and I’m so glad I did.
So, the past year has mostly been me sleeping in, having a major identity crisis, and trying to figure out where I fit in the world now without the store. Slowly, with my husband’s support, I have been healing anxiety, and finding my footing on this blank canvas chapter of my life.
So, where does that leave Fisher Pickens? What is Fisher Pickens? Well, as I said… it’s the next chapter of my creative endeavors. A chapter that doesn’t even really have a rough outline yet. I have no plans to open another brick-and-mortar shop. Am I going to make my own items and sell them at craft fairs? (probably not) Should I sell online? (maybe) Should we open a roadside stand? (I like this idea the most)
For now, I’m getting to know my home again. We grew so many wonderful things (from seed!) over the spring and summer. My house is slowly recovering from years of “good enough” organizing and cleaning. I’m teaching myself to crochet. I even occasionally have the energy to bake a batch of cookies on a whim!
The message that God has put on my heart this past year is to slow down and give in to rest and recuperation. Being nothing less than a typical Gen X-er, I have always found this difficult. Many of us were raised with the message that our value was in our productivity. The Good Lord has been trying to teach me that my value just is. It just is. And so is yours. Sending love, my friends.
x Jeannette
So That Was Fun 