“Live your life to the point of tears”

The shop is closed from now through the restock on August first.

In the past few months, I’ve pulled away from the shop and social media a bit.

If you are a small business owner or know one, you already know that sales have changed dramatically in the past year. We’re shopping differently. This looks like a lot of things for small business owners. For some, it is exciting and full of opportunities to go viral. It’s magical when it happens.

The problem is that not everything goes viral. It shouldn’t. And it takes a lot of capital to invest in fifty products so that one eclipses the others and carries the team. So small businesses, really small ones like this one, are caught somewhere in the middle.

I like planting flowers outside my daughter’s window, painting at my desk as the morning light peels in, and reading books with a fan blowing. I don’t like recording videos, studying marketing, and rebuilding my small business each year to fit the new market.

I love the community I have here - I love you, and the creativity you’ve allowed me to use and explore these past few years. I don’t plan on stopping, but running the business is stressful. I’m not always good at it.

“Live your life to the point of tears,” Kurt Vonnegut tells us: sometimes good tears, sometimes sad tears. But tears nonetheless, which means a sacrifice of our peace and tranquility at times in favor of bold horizons.

I don’t know what this looks like next, but I do know that I will always hold a space for NBDco, for my community, and for making things. I’ve been invested in my writing lately, and I am excited for where that takes me next. I have a few (good) surpises in store for my relaunch in August. Read your emails and stay tuned <3

My quote to live by for July:

“Then I’m going down the steps, and my wife calls up, “Where are you going?” I say, “Well, I’m going to go buy an envelope.” And she says, “You’re not a poor man. Why don’t you buy a thousand envelopes? They’ll deliver them, and you can put them in a closet.” And I say, “Hush.” So I go down the steps here, and I go out to this newsstand across the street where they sell magazines and lottery tickets and stationery. I have to get in line because there are people buying candy and all that sort of thing, and I talk to them. The woman behind the counter has a jewel between her eyes, and when it’s my turn, I ask her if there have been any big winners lately. I get my envelope and seal it up and go to the postal convenience center down the block at the corner of 47th Street and 2nd Avenue, where I’m secretly in love with the woman behind the counter. I keep absolutely poker-faced; I never let her know how I feel about her. One time I had my pocket picked in there and got to meet a cop and tell him about it. Anyway, I address the envelope to Carol in Woodstock. I stamp the envelope and mail it in a mailbox in front of the post office, and I go home. And I’ve had a hell of a good time. And I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you any different.” - Kurt Vonnegut