A Mansion and a Motto
What could you create if you went all in?
Every year, I decide on a motto for myself for the upcoming year. It helps me focus on what’s truly important and helps prevent me from getting pulled in too many directions.
My motto for 2025 is “All in” which to me means committing deeply to a few areas of my life, and not spreading myself too thin. I want to see what can result from deeper focus.
The inspiration behind my motto
Growing up, my family used to go to Swan’s Island in Maine for a week during most summers. Being the nerdy, literary kids that my sister and I were, we were thrilled that there was a letterpress greeting card company based on the island. Over time, our family befriended the owners of Saturn Press.
We’ve stayed in touch with them over the years, and I even designed a line of greeting cards for them. So when I returned to Swan’s Island this past summer after nearly 20 years away, I reached out and visited them in the home they built on the island, Kragsyde.
Their Kragsyde is a close replica of the 1885 shingle-style mansion designed by Peabody & Stearns in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. The original was demolished in 1929, but Jane Goodrich and her husband, Jim Beyor, built a replica entirely themselves, over the course of over 20 years.
That level of commitment is mind-boggling, especially when you consider the location of the house—on a remote Maine island where all materials have to arrive by boat, a limited budget, and the desire to be period appropriate when they could. Their dedication to craft and a vision is seen throughout the house in gorgeous carvings, murals, and period details.
Jane, along with Jim van Pernis, ran Saturn Press since 1986 and after almost 40 years they sold the business this summer. Jim showed us around their paired down press in the carriage house where he was finishing up some greeting cards for the holiday season.
And I got to see the letterpress plates for the chickadee card I designed for them:
Over the course of over 40 years, they leaned into a few things: building an extraordinary home as well as a letterpress card company. Both endeavors are committed to craft, and defy trends, but what they ended up creating was extraordinary.
Their dedication inspired me and made me wonder what could I create if I went all in?
What about you?
If there was one thing you really wanted to lean into for the year ahead, what would it be?
My mottos from year’s past
2024: “What feels right?” This was all about listening to my gut and intuition more. I used this throughout the year with decision making from big things to small things.
2023: Be present and enjoy yourself
2022: Self-compassion (I’m still working on this one!)
2021: Trust the soup: trusting intuition and also the magic of the creative process
Last week, I shared a video with my paid subscribers where I explained my overall end-of-year process—reflecting on the past year and setting intentions for the year ahead, with selecting a yearly motto being one key part of it.
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Leif Love
Leif bundled up to handle the days when it’s around 0 F here in Minneapolis.
Take care and keep creating!
-Katharine
That house is incredible! And I love the motto idea. I'll have to start thinking if what mine would be...
I really like seeing your mottos for the different years! It’s funny how there often are trends that emerge on how we treat ourselves and how we recognize the need for change.
I try to have a word each year to go back to when I’m stuck. Knowing that we were going to try to start a family, this year I chose the word Quiet. But I also chose a secret word: Selfish. I knew I was going to ask my body to do something hard and I’d need to pull back from things.