A lifeline in a sea of uncertainty

Words KATHERINE McCALLUM

In my early 40s, I would never have guessed I would find myself living and working with my mother fulltime. It was a big change, but once the decision was made, we simply got on with it. For me, family involves a special type of relationship between people, and then there’s the mother-daughter relationship, which is even more unique.

Following my separation from a long-term partner a couple of years ago, I found myself facing living alone yet unable to live independently, with a business I wasn’t close to managing myself. There are probably few people and relationships that could withstand one person just dropping everything and coming to another’s aid with little information on how that will impact them, and without too much fuss. Such action is even more extraordinary when it is known at the outset that the change is likely to be permanent.

Having moved out of home when I was 17, I have developed my own way of doing things. The transition to a mother and daughter living and working together arrangement was not all smooth sailing! All healthy relationships can, at some time, be challenging.

I now live with my youngest sister as well as my mother, and we live and work together as a team. Accordingly, Sweetness Skulls and Light has transitioned from a one-woman show to a family affair. I have always required assistance, but the move to a family business was something different entirely. Being able to describe what it is that makes family bonds special is not always straightforward. Existing in a presumptive state of support, strength and commitment irrespective of the circumstances, can definitely make you temporarily undervalue and under-appreciate what you have. I say ‘temporarily’ because of course in a time of crisis, the ‘support, strength and commitment irrespective of the circumstances’ that you so reflexively rely on, is brought to the forefront and it is obvious.

Sweetness Skulls and Light – a crystal carving business both in-store and online, in what some would describe as the ‘luxury’ retail product arena – continues amid these very difficult times. The Australian bushfires resulted in a significant downturn in tourist travel to the Byron Bay region, which was closely followed by the previously unimaginable COVID-19 pandemic impacts. The resulting effects on the retail sphere were not something we had allowed for in the business plan. But what I can say with certainty is that we are the best-equipped team to navigate these extremely unusual and challenging times. That is the nature of the mother-daughter relationship. We are in this together, and in a world of uncertainty, that sort of foundation is priceless.

www.sweetnessskullsandlight.com