lucia and orcas island. fast and slow.

“There is an ancient conversation going on between mosses and rocks, poetry to be sure, light and shadow and the drift of continents.”

— Robin Wall Kimmerer

March 3, 2016 - Daily Notes, From the Editor

My 41st birthday is Monday. I'm taking myself to Orcas Island for the long weekend because I want to go slow. 

There is also a TEDx event there on Saturday, "The Potential in Polarity," which feels important, especially now. Opposites are so much alike you know. Slow, fast. Fast, slow. It's time, it's all time.  

On Sunday I will take Lucia to Darvill's Bookstore and see if they'd like to carry it. I'll get a cup of the most divine espresso I have ever tasted with a view of Eastsound waters, distant cedars, huge rocks and maybe sky, depending on the Pacific Northwest weather. I'll drive past Mount Constitution and meet with the proprietors of a breathtaking private property...beautiful little cottages where we are considering hosting a Lucia girlfriends' retreat in the fall.

But mostly, I will try to move slow. The last year flew by. I'm 40? What? Wait...no, now I will be 41. There is an urgency that arrived with this decade. If you've already reached it, you know. We are still young, so young that septuagenarians call us "babies." We may be youthful but there is also a burgeoning awareness of the quickening pace of time. The preciousness of this one wild life we get to live becomes heart-achingly clear. Twenties and thirties allowed for meandering. Now, purpose is calling and we can no longer ignore the ringing phone. We have to pick it up. We have to listen.

Issue Two of Lucia came out this week and with this second issue comes a deep, personal questioning for me. Where do we go from here? What will come next? How will we make this business sustainable? How will we grow? What is most important? What needs to be let go? Where can we afford to explore? Where must we be focused? How do I do this?

Part of what I'm challenged with is revenue. I go back to the purpose, the real heart of why I started Lucia in the first place, and it is about inspiring and enlightening one another by giving voice to the heart...connecting. This happens in small ways, I think. Circles of friends, artists, writers, explorers. It happens when we allow ourselves the luxury of moving slow. Even for a weekend.

I am exploring the possibility of hosting weekend workshops and retreats, as part of Lucia's mission and expansion. I'll share more as things unfold. This weekend, I hope you will join me in moving slowly. Time gets slippery when we move fast. Slow down, be turtle-like. 

More soon from magical Orcas Island. 

xo
laura

issue two : perfection {who's telling you you're not?}

March 1, 2016 - Daily Notes, From the Editor

We set out last year to create a new kind of magazine for women. One with no advertising that inspires and enlightens, gives voice to the heart, and celebrates true beauty.

Today we release Issue Two : Perfection and my ribcage can barely contain the thrumming of the big organ beneath it. I am proud.

I think perfectionism is the whole reason we need Lucia.

Women's magazines for decades have been made possible by advertising. You know the kind I'm talking about. It's slick and suggestive of a very dangerous idea: That you, beautiful you, are not perfect but you can be if you buy what they're selling. 

See that model? She's perfect. See that family running on the beach? They are too. See that girl whose body is five times tinier than her muscle-bound boyfriend? Her life is totally in order. What's wrong with you? Buy our stuff. It will solve your problems.

"As long as we are under the illusion that we're supposed to be perfect, our capacity for love is diminished," my friend Dani said during what has become our ritual Sunday night phone call. She was talking about love relationships, but it applies to every aspect of life. "Compassion comes from having made painful mistakes. I think we hold ourselves to too-high standards."

These standards...how many of them come from what we see in women's magazines today? I made the decision Perfection would be the theme for Issue Two, before Issue One : Inspiration was even finished.

Lucia is still fledgling. I don't know yet if we will survive this early-stage and grow the kind of wings that can fly onto newsstands all over the world. The path doesn't have perfect stair steps, one after the other. It winds around, there are dark spots, and big hurdles. My best friends encourage me, our readers say "please, keep going." This work feels meaningful and important. Each day I do more.

I am thrilled to share Issue Two with you. A limited number are available to order from our website today. You might catch a glimpse of Lucia in selected Whole Foods and Barnes & Noble stores. We even make an appearance in the Crate & Barrel 2016 Spring Catalog! {Don't mind the perfect bedroom scene...nobody's looks like that in real life and it is okay...messy is better anyway.}

xo
laura

there aren't any mistakes

“Just ask yourself, what is the NEXT right move? Because there aren’t any mistakes.”

— Oprah

February 24, 2016, Daily Notes, From the Editor

Sample copies of Issue Two of Lucia arrived last week. I was so overwhelmed with my day job and the accompanying client communications (emails, deadlines, deliverables) that for a couple of hours I just let the FedEx box sit on my kitchen table. Unopened.

Our design advisor Karly's package must have arrived at the same time mine did because I got a text message with a photograph of her holding the new issue, "Congrats, lady, she is gorgeous!"

That's when it hit me. I am not too busy to open that FedEx package. I am too scared.

Why? Because my ducks are not all in a perfect row yet. I thought they would be by now. I haven't lined up the draft emails and blog posts and order buttons and social media messages and website photographs and new sales plans and...these things are all quacking around in my brain like a flock of nervous chaos with feathers. 

I want them all in perfect order before opening that box. I want to be breathing calmly and have everything prepared so it will fall effortlessly into place.

Perfectionism is an insidious and debilitating state of mind. Just when I think I've conquered my addiction to being seen as perfect, I catch myself putting joy on hold and refusing to open the most treasured creation I've made in months until I can write a perfect email about it and have a bulletproof plan for exactly how everything will unfold from here.

Karly's text snapped me back to reality. Ready or not, Issue Two is here. It's all about perfection. Which is, well, perfect.

Today I'm working to herd those fluttering plans into line because on March 1 we'll be unveiling the new cover and shipping Issue Two : Perfection.

There is a little piece of paper pinned to the bulletin board above my iMac as I work. It has some words I heard Oprah Winfrey say recently: Just ask yourself, what is the NEXT right move? Because there aren't any mistakes.

My next move is to upload the pre-orders we've received. One step at a time, I keep going. Whatever you are creating, I hope you will too.

xo
laura