Howdy my Most Patient Peeps!  

Been a long time since my last blogging output here on the ol' BrilliantEYE website.  Been a busy year, full of good work and good changes. Some easy to do and some not so easy.  All making Life just a bit more deeper and interesting.  A great place for my Creative Spirit to be coming from.   

I now am calling Kingston, Ontario, "home".   I've come here to a great community of creative and connecting folks that have made me feel very welcome indeed.  With over 60% of my work coming out of this beautiful town (lots of KGH and Queen's projects, as well as a handful of other wee jobbies ;) I'm looking forward to expanding my Creative Skills into the workforce here. 

If you are new to the concept of The Brilliant Eye, please take a look around my site and you'll get to know me a bit. 

And if you're an "old" friend in K-Town, say howdy and let's share a beverage on one of the wonderful patios abounding in this awesome city.  Maybe I can help you get your story and message out into the world!!

Cheers for now,
ReinMan  
(Reinier deSmit)
 

Summer is coming to a close.  Temperatures are dropping.  The long days are stopping. 
For the self-employed Creative, it's time for ideas of income to be popping.

Now, I'm a CUSP baby.  I was born at such a time, around 3am September 23rd, that I teeter on  the tightrope between Virgo and Libra. An unbalanced virgin. That’s me 😉

Today’s horoscope in the Toronto Sun (yes, once in a while I like to read words printed on paper - though it is becoming a dying practice sadly) was interesting to me as I pondered what I wanted my Fall of 2017 to look like.  

As my life feels at times tangled between two worlds, so did the advice of the Virgo and Libra stars. 

What I read had a lot about WORK and LOSS and BUSINESS and VULNERABILITY and even EMOTIONS.  Even a somewhat dire warning about being TOO "open" about how I FEEL. Apparently, today at least, I’m to be careful around any business decisions.

The more interesting advice here, to me, (and I’ve heard SO many variations on this theme): "Keep business & personal matters separate."

Huh.

This is an issue that I’ve tussled with most of my adult life.  To me, at some point in my younger days while pondering the workings of this somewhat crazy Universe, I realized it is ALL personal.  We can not separate who we are from what we do, no matter how we try to mentally, morally or legally justify separation of our humanity from 'things that need to get done'.  

Has this understanding, perhaps, limited my route to fiscal riches beyond my (obviously limited ;) imagination?  Perhaps.   Has this understanding, and my sometimes strong commitment to live from it, let me sleep better at night with myself?  Mostly yes… except when I’m worrying about 'money' of course 😜.

In my heart of hearts, I’m pretty sure I’ll be okay at the end of the day.  There are other ways to survive and thrive on planet Earth than wielding a huge bank account (though, obviously, it is much more tricky to do so in 2017 North America, and getting trickier).   I know my bank account of Creativity, Compassion, and Curiosity is full to overflowing.  Some will tell me that isn’t enough.  They may be right.  I don’t know. 

I do know this though: it is ALL personal.  We are all connected. A business exchange is just one of the ways the Universe keeps us turning towards each other and encouraging us to relate and sort through the puzzle of human relationship.

I think I’ll go with a line from each of my guiding stars:  "Consider (my) current position…" and "Keep (my) life simple, be direct, and don’t let (my) emotions take over."  I can do that much. 
I’ll love to chat more on this - but rent is due in a week or so.   I’m personally committed to making sure my relationship with my landlord continues to be an excellent relationship.  So until next time, my fine blog-reading Peeps - I wish you well and wish you good things in your always personal life.

Summer.  Time for sun, savouring sudsy beverages and surely some shenanigans with a wee bit of time off from the Busy Grind of Life.

Ah, I wish! 

For me, being a Sole Proprietor here at BrilliantEye.ca, I’ve noticed over the last two or three decades of surviving on my Creative Mind and Its Output that summer just plain Does What It Wants To. 

The type of clients I tend to work with are smart. They realize that the phrase "make hay while the sun shines" is not just a cute Country Bumpkin statement.  For us Canadians summer usually means "not winter".  And we tend to take most of our holidays during the summer months.  The action tends to change from Making Money to Spending Money, and usually on Fun In The Sun type experiences (which, hopefully, includes a good dose of ice cream! 😏)

So, during July and most of August I do not tend to get a wee bit of time off… I get a Good Chunk of it.  Now, there are lots of little gigs to do and personal projects that come into being. But overall, it is a slow time of activity for me. And, really, I’m okay with that.

I’m not a young buck anymore.  At least physically. ;)   I’ve had friends pass from this planet in recent years and they’ve reminded me, as they left, how precious "down time" is.  How quickly one’s plans for Up Ahead Somewhere can get flushed down the Cosmic Toilet of Finality.

Thusly, I embrace this opportunity to work a bit less on "biznezz" and to allow my creative heart to take a breather. In the long run, this recharge time will serve me when the September "Gotta Get It Don Now!" season starts.

Hoping that your summer, however it has been arriving, is serving your creative heart!  

Cheers!
Reinier