Discontent

I was once involved with a network marketing company.  It had good products and the training they offered was, for the most part, excellent.  However, there was one piece of advice that I now believe is completely incorrect.  They said, "It's OK to be discontented and angry with your lot in life because this will cause you to take steps to change your life."  I have lived a few years since this and I am convinced that this is probably the most false piece of advice I have ever heard.  In my experience, the only way to grow, change, and have good things in abundance is to find a way to be grateful for where you are and what you already have.  Then things will begin to improve and good things will happen.  Anger may cause things to happen, but it never seems to bring good results and, for me at least, it is absolute death on the ability to create anything meaningful.  All that angry energy appears to be accomplishing something, but in my reality, mostly it is like spinning your wheels--lots of noise, but absolutely no movement in any direction, other than down.

Anatomy of an Idea

This necklace is a wonderful example of how ideas become reality. I recently encountered someone from my past. At first the experience was entertaining. Then it quickly became disturbing and then somewhat frightening. As this was happening I started reflecting on how things from our past could reappear and affect our current life. Then I got the idea for the name of this piece. "Shadows of the Past". I had no idea at first how it would turn out. Then the ideas began to come. I used the wing because wings can be seen as protective--such as angels' wings or the mother hen hiding her chicks. Wings can also be threatening--like the shadow of a raptor or other predatory bird. Life events make us the people we are today. This can be a good thing, so even in the shadows there are colors. Shadows in themselves can be seen in many ways--in the summer heat, a shadow offers relief. I chose the monochromatic black color scheme to symbolize the shadows--and also because I needed a black necklace to wear with a lot of my outfits...

Resolutions

Just so we all understand...when I fret about getting things done and complain about not accomplishing all the things I want, I have actually done a fair amount of work.  My frustration comes from managing my time in a manner that allows for more than just the daily routine of work and necessary household chores.  Last year my one New Year's resolution was to keep my kitchen clean.  And, for the most part, I was fairly successful in this.  I also used this as a jump-off point to accomplish more.  I cannot really function best if my house is always a disaster and I have been trying to find ways that work for me to keep the chaos to a minimum and still have time and energy to do other things.  I have recently added doing one load of laundry a day and trying to make sure that said load is also folded and put away.

The best way that I have found for me to get things done is to write a list.  Now this list is simply scrawled on a piece of paper.  It isn't alphabetized, color-coded or filed.  It's simply written on a piece of paper on the counter where I mark things off when they are done.  The trick to a successful list--for me--is to remember that life as we know it will not cease to exist if I do NOT accomplish everything on that list.  I have also discovered that if I actually write down what I wish to accomplish creatively, it also gets done.  Then there are the days when I completely lack any motivation whatsoever.  Those are the days where I make a list that consists only of things I know I'm going to do--like get out of bed--or are only written down after I finish doing them, simply so that I can say I DID something.

Balance

It seems lately that there is always more things to do than I can find the time to accomplish.  This especially is true for any creative endeavors.  By the time I get all the things done that need to be done I either have no time or no energy to do anything creative.  One of my goals to overcome this difficulty is to try to do at least one creative thing a day.  It kind of falls under the same category as the PBS slogan--learn something new every day.  Today I will try to post a picture to my blog profile...should be fun!

Inspiration

This is for all of you that wonders "What's taking sooo long?"  After all, it's just a pair of earrings, right?  Well, not really.  The actual making of the earrings is not what takes the time.  It is the inspiration end of things that can take some time.  Inspiration is a capricious creature requiring constant care and feeding.  The better the powers of observation the more quickly inspiration will be engaged.  Many things will fuel inspiration:  a casual comment (such as a request for a giraffe's eyelash), a phrase in a book, a picture in a magazine or book, or a moon rise.

However, even with all this, there are days when any creative qualities will simply lie unresponsive on the floor.  Other times imspiration will have to be dragged kicking and screaming from the hole it in which it hid itself.  And then there are days when it will rush through your mind with the force of a freight train and everything else will be overshadowed--including the project currently in the works.

Getting Started

One of my goals for 2012 has been to actually get serious about my glass and jewelry business.  One of the the steps in this quest has  been to start a blog.  This has been a point of considerable stress.  I am not particulary technologically saavy and have been somewhat ambivalent to having a blog.  So, today, I have decided that trepidation aside, I will just get started and blog.  Things will look a little bare as I learn.  I will be learning how to post pictures and other features along the way.