I’m so excited to be kicking off this brand new series on the blog today! I have always really loved reading interviews with inspiring entrepreneurs – in fact, that’s what first inspired me to start my own business way back when – but instead of the standard Q&A style that we have all grown so accustomed to, I wanted to mix things up a bit and dig a little deeper. So, in this new monthly feature, I’m going to give you an inside look into what it’s actually like to run your own creative business behind the scenes. We’ll be following inspiring entrepreneurs through a random work week and seeing firsthand how each day truly can be so different when you’re the main brains behind your operation (because the best part of being an entrepreneur – and sometimes the hardest – is that it’s all up to you!).
Today we are seriously starting things off on a high note, because Darla Antoine, the author of ORACLE: Divination for Magical Babes and the creator of DIVINA: A Journal for Magical Babes (both amazing, I can vouch!), is here to allow us all to virtually venture off to her dreamy home in Costa Rica while she shows us what a week in her life is like as a Dreamworker. Ooh, I hope you’re excited as I am! Here we go…
MONDAY
Today is the day I post new blog posts. My posts usually take a bit of research and there’s always fact-checking or fleshing out to do before I post. A productivity tip: At the start of every week I place a blank sheet of paper under my track pad. That sheet of paper become an official scratch pad and all of the notes, ideas, tangents, and other tidbits I pick up that week are jotted down. By the end of the week the paper is usually covered front to back. I use what I need for the next blog post and then file away the rest of the information. Sometimes “file away” means the trash bin!
TUESDAY
I created the DIVINA journal to be a place to record dreams, divinations and synchronicities. The journal actually brought me back from post-natal depression and I like to create a small self-care ritual around it every morning, no matter how little time I have.
WEDNESDAY
In addition to my online business as a Dreamworker, we run a Costa Rican mountain guest lodge and organic farm alongside my husband’s sisters and their families. We’re in the process of building a few private cabins for the luxury glamping types; this one is a geodesic dome. Between the kids and the housework sometimes all I can do to help with the building process is to make a nice hot lunch but I like getting my hands dirty when I can!
THURSDAY
One of the best benefits of working from home is being present for so many little moments. Here, one of the cows escaped from the pasture (she happens to be really good at that) and my boys thought they’d just sit with her for a bit. Farm life is a good life!
FRIDAY
This is a very small sample of the books I have on dreaming– maybe a quarter of the books? Anyway these are all on my desk right now and I’ve always got my finger in two or three books at any given time. Some are reference books that I only open to use what I need, others are beloved old friends that I’ll reread cover to cover. I have a novel in me and I know the novel will incorporate dreams, including a lot of my own actual dreams– in the meantime I’m enjoying reading other novels about dreaming– the series by Manda Scott is highly recommended!
WEEKEND
We live on about 200 acres of pristine virgin forest. It’s magical. I try to get out every Sunday to forest bathe, meditate, clear my chakras and for a little extra exercise. With two small children and a very busy husband I don’t always get my chance, but then there are weeks where I get the chance to go out almost every day. The key is to not be too rigid, it just makes me cranky when I can’t live up to my own expectations. I aim for every Sunday but ultimately, I go when I get the chance to go, no matter the day of the week.