CHAPTER 2: WORK
So obviously we have to work…..we need food! Otherwise, we’re a crazy-in-love couple standing in a rose field….SO NOT REALISTIC!
Okay, so now we’ve definitely leaped into love, sharing tears and laughter at the dinner table over work….where do we go from there? In the Chinese language, the word for nature is “Ziran” which means “that which happens of itself”, so that it's not under any control of an outside influence, or for content’s sake, let’s call that influence a “superior” which we’ll use to describe one that appears in both personal and business life.
In love, we allowed that relationship to build naturally, why would we change that for business? Joining forces is a wonderful journey, like a roller coaster ride, excited for the incline with twists and turns, anxiously waiting for the next surprise! To keep it honest, there are always moments on a ride that you think you're not ready for. That’s where the support and unity factor in, recognizing that you can be there together in the highs and the lows. There is no “superior” that can influence that individually when the choice has to be made mutually. Even when we might not truly be ready, having the courage and vulnerability to vocalize it to one another is an unwavering foundation. Throughout our years together, we drew and merged our strengths in business, acknowledged our weaknesses, and understood that some things can’t be changed… so we adapted to support one another.
We stay curious together, always striving to take advantage of every opportunity from travel to work, regardless of the “stage” of life that we were in. Through those stages, we wore many hats, forever grateful for the experience and understanding that those moments brought and reinforcing the values and ethics that we stand by. It’s a choice to look back at an experience and only see the negative in it, but looking closely you’ll see that the small apartment in NY was right around the corner from the best Italian restaurant and bakery…the same bakery that would be our weekend morning go-to for freshly baked spinach and tomato flatbreads! In retrospect, as cold as that little apartment could get, we kept it warm with the actions we took every day. Funnily enough, we only found out years later that our “neighborhood bakery” was that famous, making it all the more charming to revisit every few years!
At the start of our business merge, the Mr. with his patience would guide the Mrs. in the intricacies that lay behind the scenes, while in turn, the Mrs. engaged her knowledge, and together we incrementally enriched our lives. Yes, INCREMENTALLY, meaning that we celebrated every milestone that allowed us to break boundaries without pressuring expectations. That pressure tends to obscure the honest vulnerability we face every day of our lives. Instead of identifying who we are with worth and suffering, we choose to create a distinction and rewrite the chapters of our day with renewed energy.
All of this cannot happen if there’s no BALANCE. Partners in life and work see each other nearly 24/7, how do you differentiate between that personal and business? We can only offer our subjective view, with the hopes that you’ll find the experience useful enough to forge your own path. Respect and communication are as simple as it gets. Seriously. We treat each other with the same attitude and dignity that we would want to receive in return, and when we don’t we communicate to find out what was missing. Communication always reveals that there was an outside influence, a distraction, something underlying that can unintentionally appear in the wrong place. It happens to everyone, in so many ways, having the courage to “own up to it” isn’t easy and takes practice with effort, commitment to growth, and improvement. Finding the balance commits you to follow the example that nature provided: that which is happens of itself. In other words, we let things unfold organically and stay mindfully aware of what we each can and cannot control, leaning on each other for support.
Wherever your passions take you, make those experiences your own!