When I opened the Bee Hive five and a half years ago – the hope was for it to be a gathering place of sorts. The name Bee Hive is meant to be symbolic for a hub of activity. My vision was of the community coming together to read, listen, gather, hang out, connect. My experience since then has been that it can be challenging to bring people together. Clearly, there is a lot that has to line up in order to do so successfully – especially for people with kids. Timing, weather, interest, promoting properly, conflicting events, and etc. So, while I haven’t given up on the store being a community space, my expectations have shifted in light of having a more realistic perspective. I do however still feel there is opportunity to connect. It is what drew me to reading and books from the beginning – that shared experience of the human condition always made me feel less of a freak and more a part of something. As so perfectly said by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”
I am not the same person I was when I first opened the doors of the Bee Hive – both as a business owner and as a human being. There have been many bumps in the road – the recession, the habitual ease of online shopping that has become the norm for many people, weather – crazy weather, the very slim profit margin of selling books – especially kids’ book, politics, the transitional nature of the Bee Hive’s neighborhood over the past few years, a learning curve…My kids are no longer small – they were 17 months and three when I opened the store, now 7 and 9. Not only have my kids grown up – but the Bee Hive and I have grown up as well. And as much as I was planning on and hoping that once we hit that five-year mark, Bee Hive would be established and out of the woods – this year – 2017, for whatever reason, has been the most challenging year yet for the store. January has always been my toughest month – this year, every month has been January. And yet even though it may not be sustainable for long with the way things have been going this year, if presented with the opportunity to get out tomorrow – I wouldn’t do it. I may be crazy, but I still feel strongly about there being a space – in this day and age of physical stores disappearing daily and 6-year-olds owning tablets – for small, local stores with soul. Places that you can go in and have real personal experiences with people who know your name and what you’ve read and where your kids go to school and which Harry Potter book they’re on. How awesome a feeling is that?
This blog is another stab at nurturing a connection. As I mentioned my kids are growing, the Bee Hive is evolving, I am too – I hope. There’s got to be something in this experience that perhaps someone out there can relate to too. And even if it is just one person who reads one blog post and somehow feels validated or an urge to high five or maybe just has a chuckle – that would make me so happy.
More to come…I really hope you’ll stay tuned.
I love this and your message resonates. Taj says he loves how he feels when he steps into Bee Hive. Thank you for sharing and sticking out the challenge. I think the challenge is for all of us to work just a smidge harder to maintain community.
Thanks so much for reading, Elise! And for your comment. I very much hope that the idea of community will always be a relevant one.
So glad you are still there, Christian!
My time at Beehive was so precious. Truly a privilege.
I hope that more adults will remember the magic of being read to as a child and bring in their favorite small person…or big person. I admit to still reading lots of YA fiction and rereading many childhood classics.
Aw, thanks Sondra! Miss you!! xox