We’ve had a long winter, drab spring and now, as if by some grand unveiling, a peek at a beautiful summer. I’m thankful we still have a sun that can warm our bones and fill up much depleted Vitamin D stocks. I really did forget how wonderful it feels to think outdoors and bask in sunlight. It’s why you’ll find me working outside when I get a chance – I’m the one writing on the beach, with papers swirling around in the breeze.

I’ve worked hard this winter and it’s now I’m seeing the fruits of my labours grow. And like a garden, I nurtured my business everyday, culling back the weeds and sticking to a plan. I can’t say there’s any part of managing a business I don’t enjoy but I will admit to some tasks gaining more favour than others. And for the little jobs that were delegated to back burner status, I took care of them all with the thought that if they are left behind, Millipede might slowly lose momentum as those seemingly unimportant jobs will quickly cast anchor and drag in the mud.

Days now are filled with photo shoots, project management, illustration, web coding and design of all kinds. It’s great! Everyday is different and everyday there’s a job to do so I suppose this garden is in full bloom with its many varieties and colours. Some of us thrive on being busy and get huge satisfaction having filled every minute of the day with enjoyable work. This is why I’m happy the sun is shining and gentle breeze is blowing. Let’s hope it lasts a good long time!

I think the art of finding time has a lot to do with finding balance. And we do find our balance. It’s that sweet spot between left and right, up and down and perhaps over and under. My juggling act has more to do with work I do for clients and work I do for my business, let alone the work I do for me too. Finding time to get everything done can be the stuff of dreams or perhaps sheer fantasy. I dream of taking Friday off to blog, invoice, draft proposals, clean my desk and gear up for the weekend. Life happens, of course and my left goes right, my over almost always goes under and my up? Well, let’s just say it’s all over the place. It’s all good though because even though looking for this elusive time, everything gets done, if almost by magic. The calendar shows our days as tight boxes and truth be told, days flow from one into another. Time passed melts into a ‘back in the day’ memory and future seems wide open, without confinement, time or structure.

Finding time is folly and I think if our balance is just right, we’re in the moment without looking ahead or behind. We’re in time, in step and all should be merry even if just for a moment. So, how is Friday’s blog coming along you might ask? I’m writing this on Monday. I think that says enough.

On occasion, and this is one of those occasions, I tend to think we naturally attract certain things or perhaps seek them out without much awareness. In this case, it’s the colour orange. Orange has never been a colour I gravitated to, as that distinction has always gone to red.  Orange has found its way to me and if one were to take a quick inventory of my living space, one would think orange has been seeking me out for years.

If I were to try and date this colour intrusion, I would have to say that date was March 1st, 2000. This is the very day I moved into my current surroundings. Prior to moving in, I was given the option to have the walls painted greyish-white or left as is, or as was. I chose to leave them and by that I chose colour, a bold move for me at the time. The colour is definitely a deep shade of muted orange. There are only two and a portion walls painted so richly and never once have I considered painting them grey-ish-white.

From there, orange spread into the kitchen with flame coated cast iron, orange striped teatowels and solid orange prep bowls. Moving into the living area, I have orange silks accenting the place – silks I’ve collected independently of one another and without thought of coordination. Glancing around, there are toss cushions, runners and an inordinate number of book spines – all orange.

I keep a ceramic planter (white) full of wool and it currently contains rovings and skeins given to me by others, all in various shades of orange. Colour selections I understand now, were chosen on their own merit, not because they would coordinate so well existing knitted and spun projects. In addition to the wool, silk and other linen, orange has come to me by other means; freebies. I don’t normally wear orange, as I prefer to wear red, but if I can spot a trend, this will change soon as I was given running shirt recently and the only colour in my size was orange. It was time to replenish my favourite moisturizer and timing was such I was given a free gift with purchase – a large orange beach bag. Could orange shoes be next? It is true I have some navy blue ones with fabulous orange accents …

It’s hard for me not to notice that my roommate is a colour. I thought I’d look into Orange’s references a little more closely as I always considered us strangers though no stranger than, say, purple or some cold blue shades. I learned that orange is the colour of creativity and much energy is derived from it when used for therapeutic purposes. Orange is self-confident, enthusiastic and independent too. All excellent qualities in a roommate.

I’m often of the mind that we gravitate to certain activities, thoughts and paths when were good and ready for them. Perhaps this decade-long orange invasion is coming to my full attention now because it’s bringing with it a message – one of creativity. It’s everywhere, I mean, my stapler is orange for goodness sake and I couldn’t tell you where that came from! I’m pretty sure it just showed up on my desk one day.

Mystery staplers aside, it’s true I’m feeling that creative “thing” bubble up again. It comes in waves for me and I can’t help but think ‘tsunami’ this time around. I wish I knew what form the output will take. This isn’t something I can answer though I can’t stop thinking I’m circling down in a dive ready to grab it. Perhaps that’s the wrong metaphor and what’s actually happening is I’m circling down, water to a drain. In any case, I’m going to hang out with my new friend, Orange, and see what shakes loose.