It feels as if we have been on a life’s roller coaster these past few weeks. Within the same weekend, we picked up a key to our new (old) house in Topanga and welcomed an 8-weeks old puppy “Mango” to our home. Neither of them was in clear sight for us a month before. I shared a bit of our journey of becoming homeowners again here. Purchasing a house was a rather spiritual process more than a transactional one.
What strikes me as riveting is that none of what has happened was part of our initial vision when we plotted our relocation from Pasadena. All these months, we thought we would be moving to Ojai, which is a stunning valley just north of LA. We were starting to make trips there to meet our local real estate agent; I was researching homeschooling and the ins and outs of the neighborhoods; we kept searching for the right house for our family. But the universe had a different plan for us, and we are beyond grateful for what has become our new reality.
I did wonder, though, how we were able to pivot in such an abrupt way. It did help that we knew “why” we wanted to move to Ojai, and it wasn’t because of the location itself but because it fulfilled our family’s criteria as a place to grow. More importantly, I think we needed the firm belief that we were moving [to Ojai] to leave our comfortable nest in Pasadena. In other words, we made a plan to activate ourselves and move forward but not necessarily to let the plan dictate what ended up happening.
“Life is what happens after we make a plan” is one of my favorite BK mantras. The sense of accountability to commit to a specific plan sometimes can hinder us from creating a plan to begin with. But if we can envision the future knowing that as we gain more experience and are exposed to fresh inspiration, it’s okay to modify the plan, how freeing would that feel? As long as we are clear about the “why,” our plan is only the blueprint, a 2-dimensional vision. Having open-ended expectations and a creative mindset fills our life 3-dimensionally and even 4-dimensionally (which not only determines the physical shape and size of what happens but also encompasses the time factor). Life is beautiful that way:)
I LOVE that all the stories we are sharing in this love letter embrace the ideas of witnessing something dear to us evolving, whether the change is happening within us or externally expressed through our beloved artifacts. Trina and A.C. both shared their connections with the artifacts they love. Artifacts from their past and also artifacts that are evolving with them right now. The story of Shylaja with Disha is absolutely darling. How their analogue moments play such a special part in their relationship warms my heart tremendously. Emil shared his design process of our newly launched BK Sashiko Sticker Sheets. The idea of Sashiko Sticker Sheets encourages you to intentionally patch the expectations on your planner/journal pages as life unfolds instead of scratching it off or erasing it. We hope it will help you to reframe the situation in a more positive light.
All these stories help me feel more fortified about the mission for Baum-kuchen that we are never about selling new “things” for the sake of selling more. I want Baum-kuchen to continue to be a place where we all feel safe and inspired to grow. Artifacts we share are there to facilitate the process in a gentle way.
-wakako
always a work in progress...
Transitioning from O.C. to Topanga, California // June 1st, 2021
**This is from our BK Love Letter for June 2021. If you would like to see the entire love letter we sent to our community, you can browse it via this link.
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