Wish you were here! The badlands between quarter life crisis and mid-life crazy...

The blessing and curse of having a small business is that you get to make all the decisions.  Every. Single. One.  That freedom, for better or worse, is why we started NORA.  And for the most part, it's been an amazing ride.  (Thanks to all of you.)

But then there are those times when Steve and I sit down, after three too many glasses of wine, and ask ourselves: Is this what we want to do when we grow up? 

And then it hits...Shit, we are grown up. 

Somehow, seemingly overnight, we have become legit adults. Kids. Mortgage. An aversion to males in skinny jeans.

Peter Pan to Pirate. When did this happen???

And then worry sets in. We have one egg. One basket. 

We frantically tramp down a path that leads somewhere between quarter-life crisis and mid-life crazy.  We start to wonder about a future that seemed really far off not too long ago...

    Will we be able to retire with NORA?
      Will we have enough to send our kids to college?
        Should we get "real" jobs again?
          Will people even want our knives in 20 years???

We asked all those questions that you don't really have the answers to right now but you feel compelled to worry about. 

So that's where we found ourselves around September/October of last year and our response to the situation was not noble at all. We did not double down and push thru it. We did not write down a plan or meditate on our goals. Nope...like our favorite crappy karaoke song, we took the midnight train going anywhere but our shop. (Don't act like we are the only ones who belted out Journey on the last call)  

We kept ourselves busy with different work, we steered clear of Instagram, and we drank copious amounts of wine in a vague hope that slight inebriation may spark some deeper insight into how we should proceed with our lives. Sigh.

I can't say that we have worked thru all our questions. In fact, we remain thoroughly confused but somehow we do feel renewed.  As cliche as it is, a new year will do that for you.  So we are scheming and planning all the new knives we want to build.  We are digging back up our folding paring designs, messing around with a slip joint, and inlaying copper into our blades.  Lots of new stuff in the works that is distracting us just enough to not worry about the future.

So hang in there with us. I believe we may have some very special work to come stemming from a need for change over here. 

We hope the new year also has the rumblings of good change in store for you as well.  

With hopeful wishes for a good year to come,
Dani & Steve