Author: Tova

Today I received a totally inspirational email.

Was it from Oprah? No. Ellen Degeneres? uh-uh. Was it religious based or having anything to do with babyloss? Nope.

It was from a woman named Heather Hawkins and it was for a sale on her new website. Heather makes Handbags. “What’s so inspirational about that?” you may ask. Are her bags handcrafted by artisans in Madgascar or something? No. Not that I know of.

They are pretty leather handbags made in Los Angeles. And now she has added jewelry to her collection. Pretty impressive in it’s own right, but that’s not what inspired me.

Heather and I started our handbag businesses at the same time. I was in New York and she was in Ohio- or Idaho – or somewhere… We were email pen-pals. A different handbag designer had introduced us through email and we communicated regularly for a long while.

I was working in the handbag industry and started my company by working with factories in New York. And she was sewing hers by hand in her parents living room. I was selling in shops and boutiques. She was selling to her friends. I was using fancy leathers and custom made hardware. She was using denim and a glue gun… You can see where I’m going with this, I think.

And we met. She’d moved to Los Angeles. On a trip to find a west coast sales rep for my collection we met up. And she was nice. And after that, we kinda fell out of touch… not sure why, but that’s just the way things go, I guess.

That was 2003. By 2006 I was no longer doing my handbags. I’d had a quick, steady rise and hit my peak in 2005. Then, I stumbled, I took on a business partner that did more harm than good. I was burned out and tired and shut my business.

Meanwhile, I’d kept tabs on Heather Hawkin’s website. She was just going about her business… making her bags, selling her bags…. they were getting better, more sophisticated…. moving at a nice steady pace. A pace that seemed slooooow to me. A pace that would have left me wondering if it was worth it.

And life moved on. i got married, got a job, had babies… I pretty much forgot about Heather Hawkins.

And then I got the email. She’s having a sale on her new website. I am still on her mailing list. And she is still making handbags. And they’re beautiful. And not that my opinion counts for much, but I am impressed. And inspired.

I look at the MUCHNESS- my new passion, and sometimes feel frustrated or insecure about what I’m working towards. It means so, so much to me, and my goal is to share the idea that ANYONE can find their Muchness- their joy and individuality – work their way through some of the darkness of grief or sadness, through the little things and taking the time to count their blessings- even when their blessings take the form of pretty sparkly little baubles- but that email from Heather Hawkins reminded me that, unlike my handbags which I dove into full-force, head first, this is not a ‘business’ that I am building. It is a passion I am sharing with the world- or with 49 people. 🙂 And it can take me a year or 10 years, I won’t stop doing it, because I believe in it! I just gotta relax and stop rushing.

I think the same is true for actually Finding Your Muchness. It’s not a sprint. It’s a constant choice to look at things as an individual. To use your voice and not be scared. To wear what you like and feel confident. To allow yourself to grieve or be sad as much as you need to about the things that you need to, but don’t allow that sadness and grief to block all the joy you are entitled to in this world. And to do it at your own pace. As long as you’re moving, you’re moving forward.

And with that, I’m gonna share Heather’s Thanksgiving sale with you, just cuz. Maybe she’ll track her links back here and that would be embarrassing for me, since she doesn’t know I’ve written this and maybe barely remembers me at all, but whatever. If you buy something, let me know! It’ll make me smile! 😀