Well hey there!
Things have been a bit more quiet over here - early summer was full of work, and now I feel like I’m finally enjoying some quieter moments to rest and reassess and I am so thankful. I guess that’s just the old soul in me to not be very good about posting here on the regular.
Life has changed a bit since I started Little Salt Wagon in 2017. My man and I have moved three times around the county since then, and I’ve changed jobs three times - from surfboard production, to Patagonia, to farming which is where I finally felt most at home in my work.
Little Salt Wagon has been puttin’ along steadily the whole way, through the late hours of the week nights, squeezed in between this and that over the weekends, and now I feel so lucky to be able to give myself more fully to it, and never imagined that I would be able to this.
In 2021 we had a miracle of an opportunity present itself to us for us to buy a piece of land - between the farm fields, orchards and the mountains that I spent my childhood roaming around in. We are now in an “in between time” until we can move into a trailer on our land and build our home. It’s a unique location which comes with a set of challenges that will make it take longer than a typical home build, but we are in for the long haul and can’t wait. In the meantime, we are saving, hustling, hauling a$$ and working towards the dream.
Through this process, I’ve noticed a tension between my “old self” which is care free, creatively unleashed, free-spirited and wild, and the other side of me which is task and to-do list oriented, and charging ahead each day as far as I can towards my goals.
Ironically the latter doesn’t allow for creative expression and development. I feel like just this last week, I was able to stop, slow down and reassess how I am thinking about my days, and the way that I am living between those two “selves”.
I remembered that even though I feel the need to accomplish and make progress every day, I still need to be filled up to keep my creative spirit alive. Whether it’s swimming and surfing in the ocean, walking through the canyon, patting the dog or horse on the head, going for a ride here and there, laughing with friends and fam, caring for the land and my wildflowers and plants, reading good books, soaking in the sun, meeting new people, listening to and playing music, hitting the road for a simple little road trip..the list goes on… Those are the things that keep this little wagon going.
But I think more than anything, having space - in multiple senses of the word is what gives me the most creative overflow. Geographical space - away from crowded and tight places, somewhere with open-ness, light, horizon lines. Relational Space - time away from others where I can hear myself think and process things and can be silent with my thoughts. Time Space - the ability to not feel like I have this small window of time to force myself to make something, to have extra margins of time to not feel rushed to produce and open to experiment and fail.
All that being said, I’m feeling grateful for a little reset time this late July and early August. I have plans to expand and move this little wagon forward, but hoping to do so in a way that is sustainable and beautiful too. I am excited to keep learning more in my life-long plein air painting journey, to try out some new things like workshops, do some new events and release some new products later this year and into the next. Thank you for all the love and support along the way - it’s a wild ride, but it’s a gift that I’m grateful for and hope I can continue to share. Here’s to summer, and hoping it brings all the magic, warmth and goodness to you!
xo
Amanda