The Skirts Mission

This mission statement was developed after reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and is based on the results of a free template from the Franklin Covey website.

At the Core

I am at my best when I am creating beautiful and meaningful things, helping others communicate clearly, and encouraging loved ones in times of weakness.

I will try to prevent times when I question the intent of those who love me, lose patience with those who don't share my knowledge or drive, and use my words as weapons.

I will enjoy my work by finding employment where I can design beautiful print and web projects to guide people through meaningful content, whether that's a story or an invitation or simply relevant information about a product or event.

I will find enjoyment in my personal life through sharing my life online (through blog posts, tweets, Instagram photos, and YouTube videos), reading books, playing piano, and talking about my obsessions (LOTR, hedgehogs, and GBBO).

I will find opportunities to use my natural talents and gifts, such as playing piano, grasping the complexities of English grammar, giving encouraging speeches to friends, observing details, predicting potential future problems (along with outlining how to avoid those problems), helping people communicate clearly (and intuiting and translating for those who fail to communicate clearly), and being empathetic.

Goals and Plans

I can do anything I set my mind to. I will design beautiful, thoughtful websites for small companies, schools, and non-profit organizations that typicall struggle to budget for (and plan for) good websites.

My life's journey is teaching and offering compassion and empathy to those who feel unheard, misunderstood, and unloved. I do it because I am drawn to the people who use their hurt and their complicated situations as armor, to the people who are scared and are hiding from their true potential. I am a natural encourager, and I feel successful when I help others succeed. (The problem comes when I do this at the expense of my own happiness and then become jealous of others' success.)

I will be a person who, on my 80th birthday, will be surrounded by my family (particularly my brother), my husband, and my closest friends. I would like them to celebrate the victories we've shared together and commemorate the tough times we've survived together—to honor the work we've done together to better each others' lives and thus better the world around us.

My most important future contribution to others will be to have believed in them and their inherent worth—always. To have fought for them when they gave up on themselves. To have celebrated with them, cried with them, and quietly stood beside them through thick and thin.

Growth and Betterment

I will stop procrastinating and start working on:

  • Telling my story as a Christian. I need to talk about the bad experiences I've had with churches and compare that to the truths of the Bible. I need to talk about what I see in the news and compare that to the truths of the Bible. I need to talk about the things I struggle to live out in my real, everyday life.
  • I need to change my attitude about myself. I am worthy of the same success that I encourage in others. I am worth taking care of (preparing food for, cleaning house for, buying clothes for, making time for) in the same way that I take care of others. I am worth real love and real time and real attention.

I will strive to incorporate the following attributes into my life:

  • Imagination
  • Vulnerability
  • Determination

True Self-care

I will constantly renew myself by focusing on the four dimensions of my life:

  • Physical: Take care of my body and my home and show them respect: good foods, clean and safe spaces, enjoyable exercises, clean and beautiful clothes, and room for imperfections.
  • Spiritual: Find a church home that really allows me to feel safe and encouraged—where I can trust that I will be taught the truth, where I can grow spiritually, where I can feel like I'm part of something good and right and important and helpful.
  • Mental: Make time and find money for the things that bring me joy: making a beautiful home, reading books, exploring new places and revisiting favorites (shops, restaurants, parks, museums), and sharing quality time with friends and family.
  • Social/emotional: Spend quality time with the ones I love, whether that's through text messages, phone calls, emails, letters, or visits. That and words of affirmation are my top love languages, and I need more of those in order to be in a place where I can pour love back into the world.