How can an experience be both restrictive and freeing? How is it possible to go from countless choices to almost no choices and feel lighter than ever?

A customer at my jewelry booth at the Chilmark Flea Market on Martha's Vineyard said to me in early August, "I need my therapist when I come to shop with you. There are so many choices, I start spiraling and can't focus."

At first I laughed but then noticed her words were constantly on my mind and I found myself sharing that story with many of the buyers who visited me throughout the summer. Ultimately it led me to removing four stands of bracelets from my tables. She was right. The space was cluttered. It was too much. I'm not sure if my customers felt lighter but I sure did. My breathing literally softened.

Of all the teachings that India offered me when I was there in December 2019 (right before the pandemic started and was about to come in with many of its own related teachings), the one that sticks with me on an almost daily basis is something called the "Indian Happiness Paradox." It states that as ambitions grow and our wealth increases, inner peace and joy decline. And the problem is not the economic development itself, it is confusing success with happiness and purpose. Happiness is in the choice to be in the moment and not in the quantity of anything. And being in the moment is a far richer experience than amassing more. India is a place where your choices are drastically fewer than in the "more is better" western culture. For instance, when you stop at a service station and order a drink, in most cases you can get water, chai (delicious chai!) or ginger lemon tea. There is one size. Starbucks has six. A google search tells me that "Starbucks has 40 standard and seasonal drinks but custom orders create over 170,000 official combinations, with some estimates reaching more than 300 billion possibilities." I still dream about that chai and have spent the six years since then trying to recreate it in my kitchen with moderate success. It leaves me wondering, if part of why that chai was so delicious was because it was so simple.

Look for my blog later this week when I talk about "the paradox of choice" and about how that customer comment is helping me become more clear about my creative work and business.

I LOVE my customers!