I’ve been around for many years and every so often I pause and ask myself this question. “Self?” I say, “Why did I do that?” It’s a question I ask just after starting a project that I don’t know how to do, or have never done before, just because I fell in love with how soft some yarn was, or how pretty the woodgrain was on that old well worn table. It’s typically time to ask when I have made my 4th trip to home depot, mills end or Joanne’s fabric, knowing that I will finish it, damn it, but finally with clear vision I know it may not be just a few hours like I thought..

Diving head-first into an unfamiliar type of project can be it’s own reward, the process shakes you out of routines and pushes you to be more.

The key here for me is listening to myself.. when my first though out of my head is “No, I don’t know how to do that” I have been trying to add “but I’m willing to give it a go!”

There is nothing wrong with playing to your strengths, they are you r strengths because you are good at them, and you are good at them because to like the process or the results, or both, this gives my sustaining energy, but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t just jump into new things and make something, anything to feel the pleasure of watching it come to be in my hands. There is no other feeling that comes close.

Focus on the process not the end state

Ultimately I have made some real works of art, my photography is inspiring, my crochet is beautiful, and I’ve made some darn fine furniture and oil paintings, but I have also make some of the most glorious disasters I have ever seen, and I guess that is it’s own kind of art? But what I want to tell you is even though I know darn well why I did that, I still ask the question of myself, generally out loud while shaking my head at least once a month, and acknowledge silently, because that is part of who I am…