"I've spent money on the wrong equipment, too-expensive butter, silly chef shoes I didn't need. But I'd rather dream out the window than read the safety instructions in the seat pocket in front of me. So should you."

Ultimately, I decided that art was the vehicle for me, that effecting social change was possible via poetry and performance. But I didn’t always appreciate what this meant: making art requires commitment and discipline. It is a manifestation of something intangible, an expression of the impulse to create, be it a painting or a project, a story or a storefront.

The truth is there are no vacations in the early stages of starting a business. Maybe you sleep in one morning or make it to an extra yoga class or two…but you are always thinking about your business baby.

I sent a version of this photo via text to my yoga friends this evening and joked that I was practicing Flour Pose. I thought it was super clever and then I started to mull it over. A couple of hours later, I’m sitting here writing about it…

It’s the kindness of strangers. The shine in a person’s eyes. The imagining of world-changing ideas. It’s in the green of the leaves on a peace lily left behind by a lost soul. The pound in your chest when thunder sounds close. The wonder you feel when you look into the eyes of something wild.

Want to know what happens when you tell me no? A pie company happens, that’s what. Or at least, that’s how Dini’s Divine Homemade Pies came to be a small business.