It’s been 3 months since I wrote about some of my experiences with sovereignty. It’s time for an update!
First of all, I now have a crystal crown – well, more of a tiara, really. I love wearing it. If you need one for yourself, or any kind of crystals, I highly recommend this Etsy shop.
Next, I hired a social media manager in July. She’s terrific. I absolutely LOVE having someone besides me on my team! I’d had some kind of resistance or blockage around hiring, but it’s gone now. A queen needs her expert advisors! I’m planning to hire more team members this fall.
Speaking of adding more team members, the Tidingdale Literary Collective (TLC) is manifesting swiftly into this reality. I’m super excited to have so many amazing people expressing their desires to be involved – whether as clients, collaborators, or both! It feels like the TLC is now an entity of its own. I’m delighted to guide its birth into the material plane, and to have lots of others holding space as well.
One of the cool lessons I’ve discovered while working with the idea of sovereignty is the notion of sovereignty over my time.
This one has taken me a while to fully accept and embody, and sometimes it’s still a work in progress. Here it is: when you are consciously focused on doing what you love and making the most of your time, work doesn’t take as long as you might think.
I mean, I should know this – it’s something that we found to be true of homeschooling. It doesn’t take as long to do the academic work as it does to attend a whole day of public school, for two reasons. First, you don’t bother with the busywork associated with teaching a classroom of kids at various levels of understanding. Second, you’re not just learning when you sit down to do the lessons.
For entrepreneurs, you’re not just working when you’re with your clients or doing your marketing or whatever. You’re constantly learning and integrating and getting inspired and transforming your beliefs and crafting new ideas as you move through your day.
For writers and other creatives, you’re not just working when you’re writing or painting or whatever your craft is – you’re creating all the time, in many areas of your life.
I’m contributing to my work and my creativity when I’m swimming at the lake, having dinner with the family, musing while I do the dishes, reading books, and doing magickal rituals. Play is part of the sacred work.
In addition, when you’re truly aligned with the work you’re meant to do in the world, you don’t give much time to busywork. The busywork is the stuff we do when we’re in a state of resistance, or we’re not sure what to do.
Time sovereignty is teaching me that the time when I’m “working” in a way that would appear to others to be “me doing my job” doesn’t take 40 hours per week. It might not even take 30, depending on the week. And yet my business is growing at a steady pace.
Contrary to the teachings of our Puritan ancestors and the wholesale hustle-hustle-hustle of mainstream culture, this is nothing to feel guilty about. Your time is yours. You get to decide how you spend it.
A note: if you’re actively parenting young children, a significant chunk of your time will be taken up with caring for them. This is normal. It won’t last. I’ve been there and done that. I recently hung out with my nephew and his wife and their two little girls. As an empty-nester of two grown kids, it showed how much I live in the lap of luxury when it comes to time. Don’t worry. You’ll get there, too.
I’ve learned much about being successful without working constantly from my biz coach, Britt Bolnick, and I highly recommend her book if you’d like to dive deeper into the subject of time sovereignty. This year, I’m integrating the lessons more and more deeply into my very soul.
It feels like I’m the Queen of my own life, crown and all. As it should be.
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