Stuart Hough, Sunnyside Trading Co.

If your January has been anything like mine, it’s been off to the races from Day 1. Sunnyside has been busy preparing for the arrival our new Chinese shipment (it’s finally here!) and we hauled a truckload of Sunnyside treasures to the 2023 Winter Market in Atlanta, Georgia.

That’s just like January, though: New Year resolutions begin; the to-do lists are developed; and new routines are mapped out. And off we go. We get busy.

However, I’d like to propose that January has much more to offer us than busyness. For many areas like ours, located among the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, January occurs during the heart of winter. Winter is when the ground is at rest, preparing for what is to come in Spring. Even the soil must rest to support new growth when the temperatures start to warm up.

So, I wonder if we might follow suit and consider the benefits of rest, of being still, for ourselves? With that in mind, I invite you to consider these questions with me during these final few weeks of January: How can I slow down? What barriers might be in the way? What are those barriers trying to keep me from doing? What changes do I notice when I slow down or when I am still? What do I think or feel about those changes?

One of my favorite items to purchase from the Old Silk Road are antique blanket chests. In fact, if you’ve been to the Asheville warehouse lately, you know I just can’t get enough of them. They can fit just about anywhere, and they make wonderful coffee tables. As I think about the concept of stillness, it conjures for me the cozy image of being nestled under a warm blanket. As if the blanket, itself, holds everything at bay. Some of you might already own a blanket chest and have it dutifully stocked with your quilts. I have several myself. If not, I have included some of my best-loved blanket chests for your consideration below.

Despite its connotation, stillness is (still) an active state. It takes work to be still, to slow down, just as winter soil is (still) at work. The immediate benefits of our slowing down might not be apparent to us just yet, but come Spring…