Birthday themes

Today is my birthday. For the past several years I've been giving myself a theme word for the year on my birthday. This started out as a bit of fun and the first year I did it, it was a spontaneous toast in which I declared it "the year of Champagne." Others have been more serious, like the "the year of action" in which I decided it was time to get up off my butt and do something - that was the year I wrote my business plan and opened the shop. This past year was "the year of yarn" which seemed rather appropriate and nice and simple.

This year's theme has more meaning to me personally and arises out of the events of the past few days. We all woke up to a different UK and essentially a different world on Friday. A sense of sadness, regret and utter disbelief have been hanging over us and it has been rather unpleasant. I know I am not the only one who has felt this way. What has been remarkable in the aftermath of the vote, is the number of people reaching out to me and asking how I'm doing and wishing me and my business well.

I have received kind Tweets, lovely comments on Instagram, heartfelt e-mails from customers all over the world, text messages and several hugs. I didn't expect that. This beautiful yarn loving community has once again proved how amazing it is and I feel very privileged to be a part of it.

So, it is in this spirit that I deem it "the year of community." I want this year to be about anything but an individual desire, I want it to be about a bigger picture, about hope and about coming together. I don't yet know what this theme will mean in practical terms, but I will let you know when I do and I am more than open to suggestions. Thank you again to everyone who has reached out these past few days, it has meant a lot, and thank you for letting me be a part of this wonderful community, I look forward to seeing what we can build together. But for now, I'm off to have cake and champagne because it's my birthday :)

-Carmen