New Energy, New Look

This is the GREAT REVEAL of Crafting the Sacred’s new energetic look!  This is the story of how an extreme makeover came to be.

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Two years ago I decided to get serious about my branding and, armed with a tax refund and offering tarot readings as trade, I hired a graphic designer, web designer and web developer to design a logo and website to go with it.

I was very happy with the look they came up with — circular and lunar-like shapes across lapis lazuli blue shades of midnight sky.  The site was built as a highly customized WordPress site.

It felt serious, elegant and professional.  It was what I needed at the time.

I felt I had arrived as a business woman!

But then recently I began to have this nagging feeling that perhaps the look did not fully reflect the true me.  I worried that I was not attracting the right clients with the serious tone of my site.

The feedback I was getting from potential clients and other coaches was that my site was hard to navigate and that its energy was aloof, inaccessible and….well, masculine.  Eeeck, not me at all!

The site had also been customized to such an extent that any upgrade was a major pain.  I had to teach myself CSS just to keep up with every WordPress upgrade and was loosing basic functionality along the way (the last being drop-down menus).

I was starting to feel trapped in a structure that had outlived its time.

But I was so attached to the money and time I had invested, that I pushed these feelings aside.

Inspiration through Community

It was around this time that I signed up to Goddess Leonie’s Business Goddess eCourse hoping it would spark new business growth for me.   It did…and then some!

You’ve seen the early results already with my more frequent blogging here, guest blogging on other sites and the release of my first two ebooks.

Through her Goddessguidebook Circle community I met women from all over the world who are finding ways to be their true selves.   As I visited their sites and blogs I was struck by their joyful creative expression.

I’ll admit it…I was jealous.

I felt defensive of my site.

I wanted to have a colorful site.  I wanted to blog about silliness.  I wanted to be able to be vulnerable and not super serious all the time.  I wanted to show off my art.

As I opened up more on the forums, a shift began to happen.  I found my place and began to relax.

My friend, Kristina, said to me the the other day that she’s happy that I finally found my Circle.

For years she’s witnessed me join a number of local women’s groups, only to leave feeling dejected as I just didn’t fit in.  I guess it’s not surprising that I’m tentatively finding my place in a global Circle.

Even though I’ve lived in the U.S. for over 14 years, I still struggle with understanding the subtle social cues, boundaries and friendship expectations.  It’s still foreign to me and my way of approaching relationships can be jarring to some people here.

So there is relief in connecting with women from all over the world who are committed to personal healing and growth, and supporting each other in our paths.

It’s been inspiring and it’s been healing.

Creativity

I have been so inspired by all the artwork that is shared in the Circle and it stoked my creative fires. I started to envision what I wanted my site to look like — a vision of warm, inviting tones.

I got out my watercolors and began playing with images of flowers and spirals in pinks and oranges.

It did not take long for the vision to take shape on page and make its way into pixel.  Within 24 hours I painted this watercolor piece, scanned it and made my new header with Photoshop.

I felt AWESOME.  It felt so energizing to create again.  It had been too long.

Autonomy

I knew I needed change WordPress themes and rebuild my site pronto but I felt guilty.

I worried that changing the logo and design would hurt the feelings of the designers who had come up with my initial design.  I didn’t want them to feel like I was rejecting their work.

Who knew that my need to caretake others’ feelings would be such a block to taking care of my own business?

My friend, Aurora, gave me a much needed pep talk.  She reminded me that people make changes in business all the time and no-one would take it personally.  Thank goodness for her pragmatic wisdom!

So I researched WordPress themes to find the best fit for me.  I settled on Headway which allowed me to set up my new structure with ease, and customize colors and layout without touching the CSS code.  SCORE! 

In less than 5 hours I took down my old theme and rebuilt my site with as much rose quartz pink and carnelian orange as I could handle.

I felt like a ROCK STAR!  I could do this by myself.

It may not be as slick as a professionally designed site and I’m sure I’ll keep tweaking it over time.

But what matters is that it’s mine.  It’s all my creation.

Energetic Shifts

It has not escaped me that I was coming face to face with the limitations of an outmoded structure in the Year of the Emperor.  Energetically this is a year to become sovereign ruler of your domain.  And so it is — I am finally Queen of my Web Domain!

This process has been one of unfolding into my creative self, of standing tall in my power to create and having fun along the way.

It is also tied into opening myself to receptive energy in my path to being a mama.

As I’ve shared before, Azi and I have been trying to conceive for almost a year.  It’s been a path of learning to be humble and surrendering to the unknown.  I don’t have all the answers.

I’m not sure what the future brings, but I do know that I am a creative force.

I know that within me lies the ability to nurture new life, energy and beauty.

This site is a sacred testament to my creative spirit.  It is a virtual, vibrant altar to my fertility.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed nurturing it into being.

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