#54: In the Middle of It All: How to Stay Rooted When You’re Pulled in Every Direction

In episode 54 of 'The Jeweler's View,' Courtney Gray, a seasoned metalsmith and business strategist, shares insights on maintaining balance amidst the chaos of a busy creative life. Gray narrates a story about her friend, Rita Marie Ross, and how they navigate hectic times through grounding rituals. She introduces three simple grounding techniques: a 'bench reset,' a five-sense check-in, and an evening sweep, emphasizing the importance of presence and awareness in daily creative practices. Gray also highlights upcoming podcast themes on connection, consistency, and creative protection, and encourages listeners to embrace their current phase without rushing. Resources and support for creative business strategies are available on her website.

Transcript

 #54 – In the Middle of It All: How to Stay Rooted When You’re Pulled in Every Direction

[00:00:00] Welcome to The Jeweler's View. I'm Courtney Gray, metalsmith educator and creative business strategist. After 25 years in the jewelry industry, running one of the country's top metalsmithing schools, coaching artists, advising companies and organizations, and hosting interviews with some of the best in the craft.

I finally created the kind of support I wish I'd had from the start. This podcast is a part of that. Each week I share the lessons I had to learn the hard way so you can build a rhythm that supports your creative work, your values, and the life and business you actually want. Find tools, coaching and my transform course@courtneygrayarts.com and let's get to work.

Courtney Gray: Welcome to episode 54 of The Jewelers view.

I wanna start today with a story about my dear friend Rita Marie [00:01:00] Ross, sculptor, first jeweler, second teacher, and working artist for over 30 to 40 years. Rita and I have been friends for years since the school day. She was a teacher at Creative side and without fail. Around this same time.

Each year we end up having a very familiar conversation. She's prepping for shows both in her studio and out juggling sculpture, jewelry, teaching, promotion, travel, and deadlines. Whew. She calls this stretch the thick of it. Well, I would call it the thick of it, and sometimes she calls it the skinny spot, the in-between right, the busy, busy time.

I love the texts I get from her during this time. " I have a show this weekend, so my head is busy, but all is possible." Love her positivity. "I'm getting excited about the shows and making new jewelry.

Holding you in light." "Sold a piece Monday [00:02:00] morning. Cleaned and put away the display. Hung art started cleaning for the studio tour. I wanna focus in on jewelry now" with a question mark at the end. I can hear the motion in her words, that pulse of creative life when you're stretched to your edge, but still fueled by the work.

That's what in the middle of it all feels like, not calm, not chaos. The razor thin line between both, and that's what I wanna talk to you about today. How to stay rooted when you just can't slow down. Life won't permit it. The shows are happening right late November has its own kind of energy, gratitude, exhaustion, expectation, and a whole lot of noise from the outside world.

You're likely wrapping up orders, prepping for shows, managing family plans. Trying to remember if you even ate lunch. It's beautiful and it's brutal and it's easy to slip into [00:03:00] survival mode where every day feels like one long to-do list. Can you relate to this? But presence isn't something you find after the work is done.

It's something that you build inside the work. It's a discipline, a way of moving through the rush with your feet still on the ground. So I wanna share three simple grounding techniques for busy creatives. You don't need an hour long meditation or a weekend away to come back to yourself here.

A few grounding techniques that I come back to. Quick, practical, and doable, even in the middle of a show. Week number one, the bench reset before you start the torch. Pause, look around your workspace. Touch the tools that remind you why you love this craft. Take one slow breath in through your nose, and exhale through your mouth as you feel your [00:04:00] feet on the floor.

One breath, that's it. It takes five seconds, but it tells your body we're safe. We're here. Let's make something. Here's the second one, the 5 sense check-in. This is really good for people with anxiety or who feel scattered and squirreled all the time. Stop and name one thing that you can see.

One thing that you can touch, one thing you can hear, one thing you can smell. One thing you can taste or want to, this is basic neuroscience. It pulls you out of your head and back into your body, which is where creativity actually lives.

Here's another one. The evening sweep. I know I talk about making space and little rituals and routines, but try this one at the end of the day. Set a two minute timer. Two minutes, put away [00:05:00] one tool, wipe one surface, take one note for tomorrow. So you feel prepared you're not cleaning your studio.

You're signaling to your nervous system that you're closing a loop. It's closure disguised as tidying. What a win-win, right? And it frees you to actually rest. These micro rituals might seem small. They're anchors. They make it possible to stay human in the middle of the whirlwind.

Being rooted doesn't mean being still. It means knowing where you stand, what you value, what you're working toward, and what you won't compromise to get there. When you know your roots, you can bend without breaking. You can handle the rush orders, the noise of the season, and the pull of competing priorities because you're not trying to prove anything.

You're just continuing the work. That's what Rita always reminds me of, even in her busiest weeks, her messages never sound [00:06:00] frantic. They sound alive. Their gratitude woven through the chaos. She's in motion, but she's not lost in it. And maybe that's the real trick.

Not performative gratitude, but the kind that happens. Mid task, the breath. When you look up and realize you get to do this, this is what you do for a living. You get to make things with your hands. You get to connect beauty and function and emotion and metal and texture and fire. That's sacred work.

Sometimes remembering that is enough to pull you back from the edge. As we head into the next few months here on the Jeweler's View, I wanna keep these themes alive. Connection, consistency, and creative protection. We'll hear from Heather, a new creative lawyer, friend of mine on protecting your art and your brand.

The team from Cerf on preparing for the unexpected. A financial advisor on building [00:07:00] clarity and confidence around your numbers, and we'll talk about building relationships with collectors, showing up online without selling out, and creating systems that serve your art, not suffocate it, because next year isn't about doing more.

It's about doing what matters with more intention, with lots of space to rest, recharge, refuel, all those good things. This week, give yourself permission to be in the middle. You don't have to fix it, escape it, or rush it. You just have to meet it with awareness. Pick one small ritual, a breath, a touch, a sound that brings you back to yourself.

And repeat it whenever you feel scattered. Try this daily. This is a practice, and if you can text a friend like Rita. Someone else who understands this creative chaos, hold each other in light. Now, if today's episode [00:08:00] brought you a moment of grounding, share it with another artist who might be feeling stretched thin this week.

If you're craving structure and accountability that actually fits your life, your creative rhythm, my coaching subscription is open. I have a few spots left. Two live meetups a month. Email support in between, and we'll design a system. To keep you focused on what really matters now, you can find all those details on my website@courtneygrayarts.com or in the show notes. Take a deep breath, my friend. You're not behind, you're just in the middle of it all. And as always, I'll see you next week. You've got this. 

Thanks for listening to The Jeweler's View. If today's episode gave you something to think about, consider sending it to a friend or share it on social and tag me at Courtney Gray Arts. You'll find tools, coaching resources, and the transform [00:09:00] course@courtneygrayarts.com. And if no one's told you this lately, remember you're not behind.

You're becoming exactly the kind of maker your business needs and that kind of depth. It takes time. I'll be back next week, same time, same tough love, onward and upward. I.