Mistakes are really discoveries

Nico's really into making things with paper. Origami, paper cuts, boxes, birds, you name it and it will be in paper form in a matter of minutes. (As I type this Jason is trying to convince Nico to delay the tape-box he's making for me until after dinner. It's like water off a stone with our determined boy.)

A few weeks ago, I taught Nico how to make snowflakes. A thousand snowflakes later and I am prepared to declare him an addict. Now and then though, he makes a mistake. I say mistake only because that is how he perceives them. I am not sure if his idea of perfection is rooted in nature or nurture but I do know that I want him to relinquish the negativity he associates with mistakes and see them for what they really are: learning opportunities. Thomas Edison said regarding his failed lightbulbs "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work".

Mistakes can also be a source of discovery, as Nico found out today. 

A broken snowflake is really just a pair of wings.


And once one person has a pair of wings...



Colette was happy to be a choucho (butterfly) and immediately jumped off the couch with great hopes. Landing with a thud, she said あれ (Japanese for 'huh?'). I love that she believed she could fly.


I also love that when Sebastian return from playing with friends, Nico asked him if he wanted a pair of wings too. 

 I love that Sebastian said of course.

Me, Myself, and I

I had my weekly doctor's visit today and it was predicted by his swift judgment that I still have another week to go. I am actually hoping Luca will want to be born on the 21st since it will make my kids a complete cusp set (Sebastian-20th, Nico-22nd, Colette-23rd).

I always feel a little fatigued after seeing the regular doctor and always have to transform into self-doula mode to raise my spirits. It isn't easy giving birth in a place where we are essentially on our own. After two years in Nagoya, we do have quite a few friends, yet it is not normal in Japan to rely on such relationships during times like this. Typically pregnant women return to their parents' house the month before the birth and remain there until the one month baby check-up following the birth. It is a nice tradition for those who can take advantage of it but for a mama like myself, it means that I am more isolated than most.

Of course, I went through this before with Colette and lived on a tiny island for that one so I am experienced. It does increase my sense of self-sufficiency but I can't help but envy those women who do have parents in the country to help them during such a vulnerable time. My own parents have helped me tremendously in their own way but I wish they had decided to retire in Okinawa instead of St. Augustine, Florida. Similar climates and much easier for us to travel to.

Yet there is no sense in feeling sorry for myself. I just must remember that this is the one disadvantage that balances all those advantages we have living in Japan. And also I must recall that amazing sense of victory I felt at the end of Colette's active but gentle birth. It made me feel akin to women who go off by themselves to give birth in the bush. Such a peaceful and natural event, so unlike the experience promoted by those who wish to profit from childbirth.

At the end, I feel all I can say is ganbatte to myself and just try and stay sunny. A pursuit made easier by the return of actual sunshine pouring through my window.

The Business at Hand

My summer holiday has definitely gone a different direction than I anticipated. Instead of the laziness (I mean, recuperation)that I had planned on, I have been working on what I suppose can now be officially considered my small business. I have learned a lot about what it takes to make the shop really run, mainly due to making many mistakes along the way.

What is really important when involved in such a project is to remember the motivating force behind the ambition. My favorite way to achieve this is a trip to the park, with the "motivating force" in tow.






Yes. I remember now.
xoxo

Things I Have Learned as an Online Entrepreneur

So my digital doors have been open for a week and though I have had a few visitors, no buyers have crossed the threshold yet. During this initial downtime, I have compiled a list that I thought would be good to share with you, in case you are attempting to walk down the small business path or just like a good chuckle at how I have been stumbling around in the online marketplace for the past few days.

1. Don't set impossible goals for yourself. Especially if your goals involve your hands because, and this might come as a shock, you only have two of them. Ten fingers yes, but only two hands. And if small, nursing children are involved it is likely that there may be only one hand in the picture.

2. Don't take #1 as a challenge. It is not a challenge. There are such things as impossible goals.

3. Make and sell what you like and don't worry too much about what you think people will like. It seems that if you like something yourself, then you add that magic to it when you make it and people recognize and respond to that.

4. Renewing doesn't seem to be worth it. Just post more stuff instead.

5. Posting more stuff means experimenting more which means you will probably figure out what you like to make and sell quicker. Feel free to play around with your products and shop. Once you get more established you might not be able to do that.

6. Take advantage of the editing feature. If you feel the need to write a product description say at 1 o'clock in the morning, read it again after you wake up. Retake pictures because those visual gems become tiny little squares that pop up on the surface of the online marketplace for just a second before sinking back down into your shop.