Willa Hartt LLC

😍 My, what a heavy crown you wear.

🧭 One of the lessons I’m working to learn is: HOW I actually want to fill my days, not just the number of hours I will “work”.

🧗‍♀️ When I started my own business, one of the things I was most excited about was the chance to “be my own boss!” To make my own rules! To succeed.

📆 But it quickly became all about making plans and choices for my business and professional self, and focusing very little around how to be happy, healthy, and successful in the other areas of my life.

🤦‍♀️ It became all about work. (Not to mention the grocery shopping, cooking, organizing, cleaning, laundry, pet care, family care, which all pushes self-care further down the list. Though this is all -work-, it’s not often remembered or counted when I am being hard on myself for not doing “enough”.)

🌅 So here is a photo of our absolutely luscious grape arbor, taken today during a misty morning stroll in our backyard, that I took because… I FELT LIKE IT!! 🙀

❤️ I am reclaiming my time - at least in 5-10 minute segments. And I still have room for work. Go figure.

🕰️⏰⏲️⏱️🧭⏳🙀🤦‍♀️📆🤯❤️🌅🙏🔥💃

🙋🏼‍♀️ Oh, hi! Yes, .hartt is still here!

📆 Um, somehow it’s been… months(?!) since my last post, so I figured it was about time that I pop in with an update.

🫶 Since my initial injury back in May, I’ve been taking some true time -off- from work, and that includes updates here on the ‘Gram.

🤕 Not only did I not have much to post about, due to not being able to make anything new, I also felt like the universe was sending me some serious “chill the f out” vibes, and tried to take that to heart and step away from all distractions to just focus on healing my self.

🫥 I was also so sick of talking about my injury, and hearing advice / solutions (yes, believe me, I tried it all); I’ve avoided any space in which I would need to discuss it further (aside from the numerous appointments with professional healers I’ve attended throughout).

🙏 After months of lacking the strength to even lift a glass of water, I am finally, and slowly, working my way back into the studio. But I have to continue to be patient, and very careful, as re-injury is a serious possibility.

🛣️ This near-career-ender has been a true eye opener, to say the least, and I’m really thinking about my path going forward, and what the future holds for my business.

⛔️ At this time, I have closed my waitlist, and am not accepting any new clients or projects, as I’m still working to get through everything I had in progress back in June.

🌹 To other Makers out there, I say this: Be kind to your bodies! What we do is unlike many other careers: we do not need to hold ourselves to the same rigorous schedules and demands as many other professions do.

❤️ And, lastly, a huge thank you to everyone who has reached out, showed up, been there, and offered encouragement and support during this difficult time. Being robbed of ability, independence, and my passion has been a true challenge for this Aries, and I have been getting through it in large part due to the phenomenal support I’ve received from loved ones and peers alike! (If I’ve cried in front of you in the past few months, that means YOU!)

🤞🤕🙏❤️🙋🏼‍♀️😍🔥🤯😢📆🛣️🤷‍♀️🫶🥰

📣 Shameless Plug. (Plus very exciting .hartt news!)

🤯 I’ve taken this entire week “off” for a few reasons:
💪 1. My repetitive motion injury has not been healing, despite acupuncture, massage, physical therapy, topical creams, pain killers, ice & heat, Epsom salt baths… Some time off to “rest” the arm was the next step.
👫 2. My husband also has this week off - a very rare vacation from his usual 70+ hour work weeks.
🛠️ 3. My long-awaited studio finishes synced up perfectly, with my good friend Rangeley hired to come over and get it done, while I am out of the way!

🥳 This week he:
- Painted & installed lots of additional siding and trim
- Framed in & installed 2 additional antique windows
- Insulated and strapped more than half of the inside

🥰 And there’s still some week left! I can’t wait to share some more detail of this very exciting development. This has been a long time coming, and I am so pleased with the work being done.

🤩 To say that I am beyond thrilled to have not just the exterior siding and trim done, but also the final windows installed, would be an understatement. And I don’t even know how to put into words how excited I am to finally have some insulation going in….! No more freezing winters!!

👀 A huge thank you to Rangeley for doing such great work! Check out his feed for more!

🤩❤️💪🩹😘👫😍🛠️📣👀🥰🔥🤯💃