The entertainment industry has Award Season. The Crafty Chipmunk has Anniversary Season. I like the idea of claiming a whole season instead of one date. Typically we like to mark a date and base our celebrations around that, don’t we. Birthdays? Easy. Wedding anniversary? Got it. Business start date? Um, well, I’m not sure.

I’ve been struggling because I can’t narrow down one date. How can I promote an anniversary event if I can’t figure out an anniversary date? Finally, this morning, I stopped struggling. The date doesn’t matter to me. The anniversary doesn’t matter to you. What matters, I feel, is reflecting on the process. What matters is the growth. What matters is the creativity that I am inspired to use and share.

So, that’s why I reframed my thinking to embrace “Anniversary Season” and why looking back helps me move forward. Before The Crafty Chipmunk, I had a long career in early education and social services. Part of my retirement plan was to build a business from my hobbies. Carrying out that plan was an evolution that happened over a couple of years. My retirement date conveniently coincided with my birthday. So that is really when I started to focus on creating the business, at the beginning of March 2023. We renovated a room in our house and finished that in June of ‘23. I took every free hobby business online course I could find. I started making and selling things. My first market took place at the end of that year, 2023. Oh, and I registered the business name in fall of 2022. See what I mean about the dates?? This just didn’t magically start on a given day. This grew over a few seasons!

A very excited and fresh Crafty Chipmunk, June 2023. Such a tidy room. *sigh*

There is one other yearly event that’s happening along with anniversary season…and that is tax season. Nothing like reviewing all of my financial numbers for the past year to provide a humbling dose of reality. Like how fast time has gone, how hard I’ve worked, how many awesome people I’ve met, how many designs have gone out in the world, and how many times I’ve been to Michaels! While the number crunching is not my favourite part of business, seeing the growth has me ready to break out the anniversary season champagne. I’m raising my glass with a cheers to growth in new and exciting opportunities, growth in this community of support around me, and yes, even growth in sales.

Maybe most importantly, cheers to using this creative muscle every day. It has made me stronger. Sharing my love-filled creations with you feeds my soul. Encouraging others to tap into their creative pursuits feels like purpose. If that’s the outcome from my possible 3rd anniversary season, I will celebrate it. You are most welcome to join me. I love that you’re here. And I love celebrating. Cheers to embracing the messy process, our creativity and the sweet ordinary of the daily life we have.

Why not a whole season?

Love, old letters and stuff.