02/16/2026
I know this is a long-winded post, but please read as it is humbly honest and comes from my soul. This feels very important to me to share with all of you for the next chapter for me and Muddy Souls. 🥹🫶🏼
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Hi friends!!
I’ve gone back and forth about sharing this, but I’ve always tried to lead this space with honesty and transparency.
The last several months of my life have held a lot of change. After 10 years of marriage (17 years in a relationship), I am navigating myself through the end of that chapter and learning what it means to rebuild my life and my mental health from the ground up. It has been heavy, humbling, and exhausting in ways I’m still unpacking. I’m also learning just how much stress and survival mode my body has been carrying for a very long time.
For years, I’ve coped by staying busy.. full-time work, growing Muddy Souls, and saying “yes” to everything.. creating beauty even when I felt like I was barely holding myself together. In many ways, this business became my safe place.. and you all became part of that safety. I’ve made real connections and friendships that have meant more to me than you probably even realize. Your support has carried me through some of the hardest seasons of my life. And let me tell you how proud of this business I am. Feeling the love poured out for me and Muddy Souls has been overwhelmingly beautiful! I have exceeded my own expectations and completely surpassed every goal that I have ever set. This business has grown so rapidly, thanks to all of you, and I am forever grateful to y’all for always showing up for me and Muddy. I am SO PROUD to be a part of this community. Owning Muddy and watching it grow, seeing and feeling the love and support from not only my local community and the town of Florence, but also neighboring towns and communities as well, I have a newfound appreciation for y’all and you will always hold a special place in my heart. 🥹🫶🏼
Valentine’s Day was absolutely beautiful yet very overwhelming, and I am beyond grateful for every single order. But the truth is, I am deeply tired in a way that sleep alone doesn’t fix. I’m doing the work of healing, and it’s taking a lot more out of me than I expected.
So I need to step back for a while, which feels bittersweet. And I don’t know yet what that looks like, whether this will be short-term or longer.. just that I can’t keep pushing through at the cost of my mental health.
While I still have a few events coming up and orders to fill, I unfortunately will not be taking anymore.
If this season has taught me anything, it’s that strength isn’t staying silent or enduring everything. Sometimes strength is choosing rest. Choosing peace. Choosing yourself.
Thank you so so much, from the bottom of my soul, for supporting this flower-and-book dream of mine. Thank you for the kindness, the encouragement, the conversations, and the community we’ve built together. I’m choosing to care for myself now and I believe that’s something worth modeling.
With love and gratitude,
XOXO
Kacey ✌🏼
