As I sit to write this, it’s a scorching 32 degrees outside and the summer heat is intense. Of all the seasons, I find summer the most joyful, yet it often packs a melancholy punch. Being a mother of school-age kids, each summer’s arrival inevitably brings with it an ending. Another school year is done, and another small step on the ladder of childhood is taken.

This makes me equal parts happy and sad. By the end of July, I’m like an emotional bag of chocolate Revels, unsure which flavour feeling I am going to taste next.

It turns out that the summer of 2022 is going to be about endings and graduations for me too! I have made the decision to close The Smallest Light store this Autumn and take steps on a new career path.

It’s been a choice I have made very gradually, with much deliberating happening over the past six months or so. The spring was a season of realising slow change emerging within my purpose and priorities. This gave me plenty of time to go through ALL the emotions and come out the other side feeling excited to nurture new seeds and put down fresh roots in the months ahead.

So what will change?

The Smallest Light as an online store will close in early October and I will no longer be selling candles and products. The Circle of Seasons subscriptions will also be coming to an end. The final subscription box will be sent out at the beginning of September and each subscriber has been contacted with the details via email.

I will be shifting into offering freelance content and digital marketing services to creatives and other small brands like mine.

And what won’t change?

I will continue writing letters, blogging and posting about seasonal themes and natural living topics, because writing about these things makes me happy, and helps me feel connected to this world.

You will still find me in all the same places and with the same name online:

• Instagram
• Pinterest
• WordPress
• Mail

SO Why am I closing up shop?

It’s true this is a tough time for small businesses, the cost of living crisis has hit hard and sales are slow across the board. On top of this, the online landscape is changing so quickly that it’s hard for any large-scale candle business to get seen online, let alone us smaller folk!

These are, however, the inevitable challenges of running a business and I would be prepared to see them through if my heart was still in it. But the winds of change have blown through and altered my direction.

I have amassed five years of precious and hard-earned digital marketing knowledge building this small creative business from the ground up. I understand what it takes to create an online presence, which not only attracts customers but also feels honest and true and this is a unique skill set that I now want to share.

I am excited to work with all the talented folk out there who need support telling their unique brand stories and selling products online. I have been working my way through a digital marketing diploma for the last 18 months, expanding on and amplifying my hands-on experience, which has been another gentle push to take my skills and offer them outwards.

What happens next?

I’ll be taking my usual August break, then reopening the store for the closing seasonal sale at the beginning of September.

I’ll be filling the online shelves with as much stock as I can from each season, including your favourite Autumn/Winter blends, so you can replenish your supply for the last time before I close in October.

I am so incredibly grateful for your support for The Smallest Light over the past five years. Each and every purchase, review, post like, online share and subscription has been joyfully welcomed and appreciated!

For me, this shift in purpose definitely feels less like a story ending and more like a welcome plot twist. The Smallest Light continues its journey but with a new storyline and plenty of seasons ahead. I hope you’ll continue to walk along this new road with me.

To make an end is to make a beginning

T.S.Elliot