A Day Late, and Right n Time

I forgot to meet you at the garden gate yesterday.

Not because I had nothing to say. Quite the opposite.

I was busy.

The kind of busy where one thing becomes three, the printer seems to run constantly, there is always one more label to make, one more bracelet to finish, one more box to check, and somehow the day disappears before you ever realize you forgot to sit down.

And that’s exactly what happened.

Raven & Roses is almost here.

For months, I’ve been preparing for this festival. What once existed as lists scribbled in notebooks and ideas floating around in my head has slowly become boxes filled with tea, bracelets lined up and ready to find their people, simmer pots, little jars, bath salts, and all the other pieces of Of Herb & Stone that have been made one at a time at my kitchen table.

Lately, though, I’ve been so focused on getting everything done that yesterday I forgot something important.

I forgot to slow down and do the one thing that brings me joy.

I forgot to write.

Through the Garden Gate has never really felt like another task on my list. It’s where I get to sit for a while. It’s where I can take everything that’s been swirling around in my head and put it somewhere. Sometimes we talk about herbs. Sometimes we talk about the garden. And sometimes we don’t talk about either one.

Sometimes we just talk about life.

Maybe that’s why forgetting yesterday bothered me.

Because somewhere between counting inventory, printing, working, helping with school, making bracelets and preparing for what’s coming next, I became so busy tending everything around me that I forgot to tend this little piece of myself.

Funny how easily that happens.

We tell ourselves we’ll rest when we’re finished.

We’ll sit down when the list is shorter.

We’ll read the book, walk through the garden, drink the tea while it’s still hot, call the friend, make the thing, write the words…

when we have time.

But sometimes the things that bring us joy shouldn’t have to wait until everything else is finished.

Because everything else is never finished.

There will always be another thing that needs doing.

So today, the boxes can wait for a little while.

The bracelets can sit unfinished.

The printer can be quiet.

I’m sitting here at the garden gate instead.

A day late.

And maybe right on time.

Because in less than a week, I’ll pack up this little business I’ve built with my own two hands and take it to Raven & Roses. I’ll set up the tables, arrange the teas, straighten the bracelets probably a hundred times, and watch people walk into a tiny world that, not so long ago, existed only in my imagination.

And I don’t want to rush past that.

I want to remember it.

The messy kitchen table.

The late nights.

The labels that wouldn’t print right.

The recipes scribbled in notebooks.

The bracelets made one bead at a time.

The moments I wondered if I could actually pull all of this off.

And the moment I realized…

I already have.

Whatever happens at the festival, this part matters too.

So if you’ve been running lately—trying to finish everything, take care of everyone, keep all the plates spinning—consider this your invitation to put one of them down for a minute.

Go do something that brings you joy.

Not because you’ve finished everything else.

Not because you’ve earned it.

Just because joy deserves a place on the list too.

I’ll see you next week at the Garden Gate.

And next time, I’ll try to remember what day it is. 🌿

— Mary

Of Herb & Stone