It started just this past weekend, the holiday social season for my husband and me. I always enjoy it very much.
Except the one part that crept in several years ago: the whispered and sad timbre that people employ when asking me about my business when in public. It always makes me remember the scenes in movies and on TV that depict the 50s and 60s when people whispered the word “cancer” and glanced from side to side to make sure no one heard them.
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The business that I co-own with my sister is, of course, susceptible to the economy and its whims. All businesses are. But there is something about retail and how it is used as a forecasting tool in the media – for what seems like every economic indicator that is reported on – that makes people feel like they need to be quiet when speaking to us.
So, let me tell you how it works from our side. Running our business, as we approach the holidays, is like preparing for a party in your home. You clean everything so that people won’t think you live like a pig. (We do that.) You preparing an enticingly beautiful and delicious array of food and drink. (We do that, but with local and handmade art.) And you sit back and anxiously hope that all your favorite people show up to enjoy a great time in the magic you’ve created. (We do that, too.)
This past weekend – as in years past – I answered in my regular voice as these quiet questions found me. I am not asked these questions every year because people want to hear a horror story full of troubles and hardship. At least I don’t think so. Goodness gracious, we’re at a party!! My responses have helped those around me to remember that my sister and I delight in what we do and find great joy in supporting local artists. We have built an award-winning business based on ethical practices and honesty. We’ve even opened our online store and stocked it with the same incredible things you can find by walking in to our store in Brookside. As I answer these questions, I remind the friends who have posed them that we just turned 14 years old and are enjoying our teenage years this time around.
All year long we forecast, budget, train, order, clean, count and worry. Thinking we may already know the answer, but are too scared to place hope at the forefront and jinx it, we whisper to each other early each December, “Do you think anyone will come?”
PS…Photo credit goes to House Beautiful.
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