I owe a lot of who I am and what I do to one person, my husband, Chris...

That’s a big thing to say, but it is true. A huge portion of what I do everyday for Holden & Co., and most certainly as a mother, is directly a result of our relationship. Let me explain...

When I first met Chris, I was working as a manager for Four Seasons Hotels. And while I wasn’t completely convinced I was a corporate girl, I would have in no way thought of myself as the least bit creative or even remotely artistic. No, Not me. Nope. No way.

But this crazy guy I knew kept telling me I was "so creative" (and incidentally that I would be a great mom, too). To tell you the truth, I thought this was just his particular line to "woo" women. Or a sure sign that he had absolutely no idea who I was or what made me tick.

I had convinced myself not to listen to that creativity, I guess. I just knew I was not one of those creative people. That was that. Now it is different: the creative part makes up so much of the person I am today.

Oh, I am still the numbers girl and a bit of a computer geek to be sure, but it is really this small crazy artistic kernel that drives the whole boat. And if it hadn’t been for Chris yelling at me with all of his conviction I may have never started to believe it myself.

I hope that eventually I would have on my own. Maybe I would have taken up painting as an empty-nester or something to that effect, but I am sure that I would not have come to the place I am today without the profound effect this one person had on my life. He saw something in me that I did not, and nurtured that part of me and encouraged it, and now that is the best part of me. (He is an artist, and it takes one to see it, I guess.)

I asked him just recently what it was that made him believe, so strongly, that there was a creative part of me. (You see, even after all these years, I am still not totally convinced it wasn’t just a pickup line, and that he just got lucky playing the odds...) He was shocked. Of course, he remembers just what it was.

Apparently it was some restroom "out-of-order" sign I had made for the hotel, if you can believe it. I don’t even remember such a thing. He says there were lots of other things as well (thank goodness), but that was the first. Must have been some sign...

Having children has greatly increased this creative side of me too, mostly I think because raising babies is such a creative process. You are creating a person, and if you allow it I guess it just naturally spills over into the rest of your life.

I guess that is the lesson: to listen. That magical part, the part that defines us and makes us happy, is within us all. That best part is different for everyone, but when you hit upon it, you know, because it works well, and it feels great. You just have to have faith, and patience, and listen to it. And having some one believe in you surely doesn’t hurt.

Because of him I started to listen to the (often fickle) muse that I think must live within us all. It has taken me years to allow myself to even think I may be, and still I say this with the biggest caveat, but I guess I am slightly, maybe, perhaps just a little bit creative and a teensey-weensey itsy-bitsy bit of an artist. (Maybe...) Who would have thunk it?

Well, I know one person who did, oh so many years ago, and to him I owe all my happiness, love and thanks.

xoxox, Karen