When we lived in Maryland my husband would leave for work in the very early hours of the morning, before I even woke up. He did this so he could come home earlier in the afternoon and spend time with us. Still he was gone for a long time, and because of the nature of his job he couldn't have his phone at work. So I went many hours a day without communication with him. It was just me and my baby turning into a toddler from the moment I woke up until his very joyful arrival home in the late afternoon.
It was a very difficult time of my life. I felt like I needed something for myself. I happened upon a course in adobe illustrator and thought it could be fun. I would not have said I was an artist, but I enjoyed learning this new skill and having a little time for myself to develop something I was interested in.
I also loved children's books. To say the time I spent at my local library with my daughter during our time in Maryland probably saved my sanity would not be an understatement. It was just around the corner from where we lived and we spent at least 2-3 days there each week enjoying the story time put on by the librarians and scouring the shelves of books for something new and fun. We would bring home bags of books and spend hours on the couch or in my daughters room reading together. My love for sharing books with my little girl at this time also saw me through some difficult and long days.
It also instilled in me a desire to write my own book. I had it in my mind. It was called glorious and it would be a way to share the wonder of this incredible world with my child. With my newfound adobe illustrator "skills" I set to work to illustrate the words I had written.
The first draft kind of felt like complete and total failure. When I "finished" the illustrations I realized I had to start completely over. Although it felt like total failure, it was a building block. It helped me learn how to use the program and I used the general illustrations as a foundation as I set to work in illustrating a new version. I used nap times and my wonderful husband gave me a few hours each night to go to work on this creative endeavor. In time I had something that I felt really good about.
Getting the first copy of the book to look over before we placed a larger order.
The day the books arrived.
Looking through the box for the first time. So exciting!
Part of my desire was to not only sell books, but to give books to local organizations that could place them in homes where children might not have many books. I looked at our bookshelf filled with children's books we had collected over the years, and my heart felt heavy knowing that not every child had a full shelf or even one book to call their own.
So we started the Twin Kid Book Project. Each book purchased would have a twin that we would give to a local organization to distribute to a child in need. In my mind I thought of how lovely it would be, each time a person picked up Glorious to read to their child, to know that somewhere in the world a child had the opportunity to also pick up that same book and read it, because of their purchase. In an idealistic way I thought those two books just might always be connected.
So we created a website and and instagram account and sold to many lovely family and friends and friends of friends. Each purchase brought a surge of joy to my heart. I never really understood what it means to someone to purchase their offering or work until I put myself out their with my own creation. I still think about those purchases of people who put a little faith in me at that time and can't help but be filled, in a very real way, with gratitude. I feel the same about
Earth Fed Family.
Anyway we sold books and in a way I kind of lost my excitement about the project. It faded a bit as I moved onto other things. Then we moved from Maryland. In our last weeks before moving I knew I didn't want to carry all the books we had left across the country so we found places to donate half of the remaining supply. We took the rest of the books with us but in time we closed the online shop.
It's been over two years, probably two and a half since we opened our shop up. Almost three years since I finished Glorious and got it printed. I am so thankful for it in my life. I am thankful I could create it in that time where I needed it.
We still have some books in our garage, and I have decided to
put them up for sale here on my page. I went for a while without reading it or thinking about it, but time and space gave me the opportunity to bring out this book and see it with new eyes. I feel the love and joy I put into each page. I feel the inspiration of that little library in Eldersburg Maryland that instilled in me a greater love of reading with my little one. I think about Kennedy who at the age of one and two sat with me for hours and we read and read and read. And I loved it. And I wanted to write a book for her. And I did.
A snapchat I sent to my family the day we got the books. It still makes me smile.
I have joy in this creation. And I just wanted to
share it again, with anyone who would like a copy.
I also wanted to share this story as best as I can as a way to share my confidence in anyone reading this post. We are creators. The path of creation is interesting and can come from all sorts of sources. It is beautiful and fulfilling. If you are creating something, or wanting to create something, I want to lend my story to you. I am a creator. You are a creator. Create that which is inspiring to you. And have joy in that experience.
