The Year of Firsts

“And suddenly you know: it’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.”

- Meister Eckhart

The magic of beginnings—this year of firsts. Stepping forward into the unknown—both scary and exhilarating simultaneously. The singular experience of creating a startup company from scratch has been pretty daunting so far, but it’s also been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It is so gratifying to create something new that I think the world needs, something that I think will make the world a better place one workshop, one retreat, one painting at a time.

With each task completed (ordering swag bags with the logo, writing another blog, booking a venue, getting the first batch of official business checks), I chisel off another piece of marble revealing what was already there just under the surface waiting to be brought into the light—House of Athena Creative Retreats.

This year of firsts—talk about dopamine rewards. At a time in our country and the world when truly awful things are happening, when the daily news is so negative that it almost makes one feel hopeless that something better is not only possible but is waiting on the other side—how lucky am I to each day bring something more positive into the world, something that will encourage people to create, to play, to laugh and eat and share actual joy again in real time beyond phone screens?

Although the idea for this company has been percolating for the past three years, it has actually just begun to come into reality over the last four months or so—finally sitting down and setting pen to paper to develop the founding philosophy, the mission statement, the business structure, the year one strategy. This past New Year’s, if anyone had told me that I would be building a company this year, truly a life-altering experience, I would not have believed them. But it has been calling to me, as if the entirety of my accumulated life experiences have been leading me here to this mission—the years of teaching, of traveling, of painting, of building community, and seeing the light come on behind new artist’s eyes as they fall in love with creative playing.

And to the women stepping forward to give me counsel, guidance, and emotional support for when I simply don’t have the technological skills (building the website, creating projected income and expenses sheets for the first five years, the loans, etc.) or the emotional bandwidth reserve to tackle another seemingly unsolvable problem— these women have been nothing short of miraculous. Snappies and Cabin Girls—I’m looking at you. I have been truly humbled by their generosity of time, hard-won business expertise, and boundless encouragement over countless evening chats at the Hager Hacienda with wine and appetizers, and the lazy Sunday afternoon Snappie-Chat painting sessions while we giggle like teenage girls and plan our next travel adventures. To my sister for countless late night chats, the shrewd business ladies in Lexington who are supporting my painting workshops, and the intrepid AMM who is boldly stepping forward to collaborate in this new world-building experiment—thank you. It is one thing for me to believe in this new creative venture, but it is quite another to see others share in that vision and help buoy it. This groundswell community of women offering their unwavering support has kept me going when the problems outnumbered the solutions and the direction was not quite clear—and to them I give my most heartfelt thanks ; you know who you are. Thank you for helping me get this far in bringing House of Athena Creative Retreats into the world and for, as the magical Mary Oliver wisely said, “[keeping] some room in [my] heart for the unimaginable.” For every new retreat begins as an act of imagination: a blank canvas, a new friendship, a creative dream waiting for permission to take shape.