progress.

There is much going on in the Curet household and I am trying to keep it all straight and fit it all in.  Christmas vacation ends tomorrow morning for the kids and I hope, hope, hope I will find myself with much more time on my hands.  The snow is finally falling and my hermit instincts are kicking in, so I believe this may be so.  I do not like to travel in the winter.  I burrow like a bunny and only leave the comfort of my surroundings when we are close to starvation.  This is a good thing this year as I have a great abundance of new projects in the works that I plan on nurturing and hope to see them grow.

This blog is one of those projects.  I have, many times in the past, attempted to keep a blog and miserably failed.  Too much pressure I suppose.  There are many things from my not so distant past that kept me from reaching my potential.  I often times would sabotage myself and hurt my chances in the process.  I know this and it saddens me for that girl.  The girl I used to be.  That girl would never do anything for herself let alone a perfect stranger.  That girl was to busy being self absorbed with self hate and external loathing of others to contemplate the good for more than a moment.  That girl has vanished.  But where did she go?  I am happy of her disappearance, but I do wonder where she wandered off to?  My desire is strong to continue posting to this site.  It feels important.  I am beyond tired at the moment after a very long working day, but here I am.  There is motivation beyond me.  I am grateful.

As for this girl, I did in fact do a good deed yesterday.  T-roy and I signed up to help a dude out in Peru with a loan and this morning I got this lovely email:

This is an update on your loan to Eugenio in Peru. Thanks to you and 3 other Kiva Lenders, the $375.00 loan request in Peru has been 100% funded. This loan will be used for the purpose of: to purchase plantain offshoots and coffee plants. Over the 8 months of this loan, Kiva's Field Partner in Peru, Microfinanzas Prisma, will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website. Thanks for lending to the world's working poor on Kiva! Best Wishes, Kiva Staff

Doesn't he look so nice?  I am happy we were able to help him out a bit.  It was so fun that we are going to do a few more loans with Kiva.  You should check them out too.  You can help secure a loan for a person wishing to expand their business in a third world country for as little as $25.  You then get monthly updates on their progress and see if they repay it etcetera.  If they do, you can then reinvest it into another person, donate it to Kiva or cash it out.  It is pretty neat if you are able to pay off the end of the loan or one in it's entirety.  I will post another smiling face tomorrow.

I have a little extra to report today as well.  It was unintentional, but as I want to track my progress as a human being, I feel it is worth noting.  In addition to doing hair, I am an artist.  5 days a week I work from home producing what I love.  I left my full time employment to pursue my passion and it is paying off.  I am quickly becoming successful and I feel blessed.  One of the ways I make income and showcase my art is by running an Etsy shop.  I love my little shop and am proud of what I produce.  There are not many other artists out there that do what I do.  I love that.  Until recently, I wanted that protected.  People would ask me about my process and technique - I would become suspicious and selfishly hoard my knowledge.  I want to be special.  I want to be unique.  I would not share and I am sure my vagueness was off putting. Once again, I cannot put my finger on the exact day or the exact time, but somewhere deep inside me a switch was flipped.  My need to share was strong.  I quiet the voice who speaks against the light.  I answer questions asked by friends, I tentatively agree to teach my skills at some future date to a few who ask.  Today a message was sent to me by a stranger.  A stranger whom upon a little investigating is another quilling Etsy seller.  A beginner to be sure but competition nonetheless.  Plain out she asks me how I do what I do.  Specifics as to how it is done.  That girl I spoke of before would not have answered. Maybe perhaps would have sent back a snarky retort.  Why would I help someone who could potentially lure customers away from me in the future?  An inner voice speaks to me.... Because.  There is more than enough to go around.  Share what you love.  Make room for more to come your way.  This voice is lovely and warms my limbs.  She is easy to listen to and becoming easier every day to hear.  So I did.  I wrote of my details.  More than she asked.  I gave links and offers of future help if needed.  I felt like a grown up.  I felt a little whole.

Stats:
Daily Points - 14
Extra - 3
Bonus - 2
Days left to go: 361