I was always a bit cynical about motivational signs, one of the side effects of the corporate world I used to belong to; never more than 3 steps away from ‘art’ depicting amongst lots of other things, crashing waves, telling us, ‘the sea of change can pull people in different directions…’ or the solitary figure amongst the sand dunes, ‘setting the trail not following the path’, at one point in time these prints were everywhere, offices, waiting rooms, coffee shops you couldn’t even take sanctuary from them in the office toilets.
More recently I have come to realise, like most things, motivational signs have their time and place too. I took ownership of HOMEMADE at The Barn at a time when, on paper, it was probably the worst time ever to own a small retail business, the world was just about to go into lock down, buying lovely things for their home and garden was the last thing on anyone’s mind and my new shop was forced to close before it even opened.
I have been fortunate enough to still be able to pop to The Barn during these times, I clean, I tidy, I potter, I move things around, I move things back again, I spend my time making it look lovely for the day, hopefully soon, when we are allowed to open and my shop will come alive with Customers again.
This motivational sign was hanging up for sale and whenever I have been there, I ‘cheers’ my metaphorical glass of lemonade as I pass it, I have decided I like THIS motivational sign, we have become ‘drinking buddies’ and I don't think I could sell it to someone else, so its been claimed, moved and now hangs proudly near my cash desk as a reminder of these interesting times when I had a shop filled with lovely things but no Customers, no opening date and no sales and, as cheesy as it sounds, who knows one day it might even inspire someone else to follow their passion and continue to make lemonade from the lemons that life has given them regardless, but they will have to find their own motivational sign, this is one is now SOLD!