righttimeI spent the day setting up the store for our big End-of-Year Sale. This means looking at everything in the store and deciding markdowns, clearance and/or discounts for the the wide variety of products we carry. It is a bit of a labor intensive process, because not only do I have to find ways to label and mark things. It usually means moving them as well.

For me, it is a time of intimacy. I don’t go in thinking that, but it always happens.

There is a way that while the business is ‘Open’.., it becomes a moving machine. Many different parts all working together to create a (hopefully) seamless experience for all who walk through the door.

Because there are several different aspects to this business(retail, events, intuitive services, product development, and room rental), they all have to be integrated and coordinated together as well. Requiring constant communication and hand-offs between the amazing people who work there.

BUT on the one or two days a year that the Center is closed and I am there by myself (actually my friend James is usually there too helping me out!), I have an opportunity to connect in a deeper way with everything there. Move it, clean it, mark it, re-stage it, etc.

It’s more than that though. It is also the fixtures, computers, carpet and flooring, and everything else. It is the memories of so many experiences that date back to the earliest days of this business.

Without the need to engage with anyone, I can easily get lost in remembering when, where and how this all came to be. What is different this year than last. Or the one before that.., or the one before that.

It is a trip down ‘Memory Lane’. And I am once again reminded what a miracle the whole experience has been. How much it shifts and changes me, simply because I am a part of it. How many people are now a part of my life, that without this place, I may have never met, known, or loved.

I am aware of other people too.., because we are a community, who are also connected and interconnected with one another because of this place. It creates opportunities. Right times, right place for many connections to happen. A place for like-hearted people to cross paths.

As with many things in our lives, this time of reflection, intimacy and gratitude was stimulated by a rather mundane series of tasks. Tasks that aren’t glamorous or thrilling in and of themselves. But by being present with them, it created an opportunity to connect with something deeper within.

As we come to the end of another year, I hope you have an opportunity to get lost in your own creation… What you are building or even dismantling. To see how different you are today then you were a year ago… Or the year before that. To pause for a moment to look back at the road you have traveled and to see how far you’ve come.

I know for me it doesn’t always look like I expected it to. Yet it always feels like I am in the right place at the right time! I hope it feels that way for you too!
Maybe I will get to see you at the sale (12/26-12/31). If not, please know I wish the best to you and yours for the New Year!

With Light, Love, and Laughter
Charles