Previous visitors to Leika’s Lair know I used to sell handcrafted greeting cards. After a while of selling my art, I decided business was not for me. I found the process required to promote and retail my cards alien to my basic nature. Instead of finding joy, I became stressed. Closing the business side of Leika’s Lair brought such relief. I could go back to creating art for the sheer delight of embracing the artistic visions I had in my mind. Getting older too, factored into my decision to let Hallmark sell cards, and for me to get about living my life with gusto for things I liked to do. 

Realizing how the learning experience I obtained by keeping true to my own spiritual disposition helped me, I opted to keep Leika’s Lair web site, and turn its focus towards a personal web site journaling the activities I find enjoyable…perhaps you will too. Benefits of journaling are varied. It can keep your mind sharp, improve writing skills, relieve stress, boost memory and allow yourself to self-reflect. 

After dealing with health issues of my own for a long period of time (non-Covid related), and appreciating how the world remained reeling from the ramifications and fears of the Covid-19 era, I pondered on how best to incorporate positive mindsets and tangible concepts that would both fulfill me personally and possibly be beneficial to others. The media is filled with troublesome news that affects us both physically and emotionally.  Reflecting on today’s multitude and varied turbulent issues alone, can be draining. I find it helpful to engage some part of my day with lighthearted enjoyment. Many subjects hold my interest, but can be whittled down to four main themes…Crafting, Gardening, Pondering, and Spirituality. I decided to incorporate these topics into my personal web site, not for commerce, just a journaling.  

Revising my web site from selling my art to just musing about various topics makes me happy. When I first started making greeting cards, it was just purely for the joy of creating the cards. I made them for others to celebrate birthdays, holidays, and special occasions. People really liked them, and started telling me I could sell them and that I should go into business. I thought, well why not?  

I will tell you why not! I found while I still loved to make the cards, I absolutely hated actually selling them. Selling a product involves marketing, peddling, hawking, and cajoling people into buying a product they may not want, but you need the sale. I found out quickly that was definitely not my cup of tea.  So listening to external opinions and not relying on what I knew of my fundamental nature in this event, didn’t work out for me. 

At first I felt like a failure to not be able to deal with the actual selling of my cards. It was time spent in solitary reflection that I came to terms with being just fine not being a good business person. Since the web site was already up and running, more time spent thinking about my personal likes and dislikes, I decided on the new vision of Leika’s Lair…just talk about and journal things that made me happy. Topics I spend a lot of time on. People could browse around the site, and if they didn’t see anything that attracted them, they could move on to something that appealed to them. I chose to have no bells and whistles on my site, no fantastical graphics…just old fashioned contemplations of my own, stock photos for description and some of my own photos.  

I don’t give professional advice or claim to have solutions’ to any problems. There are so many web sites giving information with all sorts of ‘fancy’ stuff and specialized opinions, I knew I didn’t want to compete with that. I guess you would call my approach to my site as old school, and that fits because I am old! 

My tag line “Views from the Cave” still conveys much about internal visions and chosen solitude. A cave to me is a space that provides comfort and safety. A place to regroup from any stress involved with being out in the world. One can create an actual “cave”…a room or space that is private and quiet, or you can create a visual “cave” in your mind.  

Whatever way you choose to provide a private space to think and rejuvenate, furnish it with things you enjoy and feel good about. Keep out any negative and self-defeating attitudes. Learn about yourself and what it takes to make you happy and fulfilled.   

Take care and make yourself happy…    

Leika