Garnet Dreaming

Garnet Dreaming

December 13, 2014

Today feels special, different from other days; A turning point, my life’s work reaching some new level.

Yesterday, we received a shipment from overseas and I had no idea what was in it. The frustrations we have had over the past few years trying to build workable business relationships in different countries have at times left us feeling desolate, depressed and disillusioned. Lets just say, it is still a work in progress and probably will continue to be for many years to come.

The differences in how business is conducted in some parts of the World meant that I really had no idea what was in this shipment- having had many thousands of dollars out there for way too long, just hoping that we would at some stage receive some of the products that we have been waiting for.

When I opened the first package, I beheld the largest garnet sphere I have ever seen. It is probably four or five times the size of anything I have come across; it is beautiful, full of sparkles, perfect and Asterated with a four pointed star!

As I keep unwrapping there are more garnets; wands, obelisks and generators, the likes of which I have never seen before. After thirty-four years in the industry it is not often that I see something that I have never come across, but these garnet pieces somehow feel more special to me than the many wondrous one-of-a-kind pieces I have seen over the years.

Unwrapping them, I am reminded of a dream I had a few years back…

“I walk into a crystal shop, it is dark and dusty with old glass cabinets that aren’t lit. It feels magical like something out of Harry Potter; so many amazing crystals that looked as if they had been sitting there for years. It is a shop but it feels more like I am looking at the owners private collection and I get the feeling that they don’t really want to sell anything. Just before I wake from this dream, I come across a garnet wand; it is long and beautiful. I look at it and think to myself “but you just can’t get garnets that big”.

Today I have before me even bigger Garnets than those I saw in my dream!

The other thing that struck me as I was unwrapping these amazing pieces, is that Garnet relates to relationships and to business; they have at times throughout history been considered the perfect gem and have been used to represent the depth and consistency of profound love. Garnets are also said to help us to give form to creative ventures whilst providing the energy to complete projects. Connecting us to our sense of commitment, passion and drive, Garnets provide a firm foundation from which to proceed. Garnet is all about abundance, and not only are they said to attract wealth but they are also said to help provide for the stability required to maintain it. Now I know what my dream was about!

Here I am holding and appreciating the biggest garnets I have ever seen which I never even thought were a possibility. Maybe just for today I will let myself feel as if I have finally done it; created the crystal shop I have always dreamed of having.

I say just for today because the dream still feels very much alive for me with all our expansive plans for next year. I find my business incredibly creative with more possibility and potential than I can find the time to realise; Needless to say I still love what I do.

I love the people I work with, our clients, who are so appreciative of what we do. Surely there can not be a better job in retail than ours!

I remember crying the day we opened our first shop. At twenty-two years of age I had set my Market Stall up in the shop that my husband Derek and I had spent Months renovating. We had worked through the night to open on the shop on the day we had told everyone it would open. With very little sleep I looked around at our calico covered card tables- it was literally nothing more than our market stall set up in a shop and I started to cry. This is not like the crystal shop ‘I’ imagined owning, after all the hard work it felt like such a disappointment.

I felt so embarrassed and longed for it it be more professional. It took us two years to start to break even, and three years to start turning a profit. For five years we worked seven days a week and minimum twelve hour days before we could finally afford to buy glass cabinets. Another whole year after that we could finally afford to advertise…

Today it all feels worth it!

Thank you to everyone of you who has supported us over the years. We have come so much further than I ever envisioned; It has most definitely become about the journey and about the beautiful people sharing this amazing ride.

It gives me great pride that we still have a handful of customers from our Market days some of whom I have been serving for over twenty- five years! You have watched me grow up, we have shared so many of life’s ups and downs with each other and now as we watch our beautiful daughter Willow grow it feels so special to be sharing this life with so many amazing people!

Please keep dreaming with us. Today especially, I feel like things are just starting to get really exciting. We have had such a big few Month’s with so much amazing stock arriving from all corners of the world! The blood, sweat and tears of the past few year as we have worked tirelessly to locate more products direct from their source is finally becoming a reality. If you have not been in for a while I promise you too will be inspired by what you see.

We look forward to sharing our dream that is ‘Qi’ with you for many, many more years to come!

Love and appreciation,

Qi