Journeys

Oh the journeys life brings us...  It feels like I have been on a rather fantastic journey lately.  One where I don't always get to the computer to update my Facebook page, website, Pinterest, Google+ and this blog very often.  There are pictures on my camera that need to be downloaded and edited.  The technological part of this journey is not a very big one apparently.  (Once I get a few more things done, I will be doing those updates.  I hate to leave things hanging on the TO DO list.) 

I have enjoyed this journey and found some really creative and unique souls along the way.  I have found some art that I just have to follow now because I want to see where it goes for the artist.  I have found some good inspiration on this journey.  I have found a new focus of sorts on this journey.  It is still art and jewelry but there is a twist to it now that I want to test out.   This journey brought some excitement to the areas I was kind of stuck in at the time it started.  Fresh air is a good thing indeed.

This is the kind of journey where you ask yourself questions about life in general, your path in it, and what you really think about it all.  If you have ever been at this point, you know what I am trying to put into words is really difficult to describe accurately.  I have really stopped, stepped back a few steps and looked at where I have been and where I am now.  And asked that super hard question, "What do I want for the future?  Where am I heading?"

Now, I am a live-in-the-moment, don't-worry-about-the-future kind of person in general.  People ask me where I see myself in 5 years and I say "Happy."  They ask for details and I never seem to have them.  I just have a general idea of what I like and the range of things I can accept.  So some may call me flaky...  I can live with that.  I just know that I WILL be happy and doing something I love to do.  And that is enough for me. 

So stopping to go a little bit further into details is kind of a big deal for me.  I still cannot tell you every detail but I know it will involve art and as many friends as I can include.  It will mean I need to delve into technological things more regularly and quit thinking of that as a chore so I will WANT to do it again.  I envision some kind of shop or studio space in my future now and am starting to build it in my mind.  I don't have any idea of the time frame I will need but don't worry about one either.  Happy is still going to be goal #1. 

I have stopped many times on this journey to say thank you to those who came across my path.  THAT is one part of this journey I am so grateful for having!  Giving gratitude has blessed me in so many ways, many of them surprising.  I thank YOU right now for reading this post and supporting me that way.  Lots of little and big things to be thankful for right now!


Whatever journey you are on, I hope it is a good one full of good people and things along the way.  I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season, whatever they may be, and that you build some awesome memories with those you love.  Thank you for being part of my journey!  It has been a really great one because of you!

This Journey

The journey awakens the soul.... a stamped piece that really does express how I feel about this journey I am on these days....  It is a pretty accurate description of WHY I do what I do too. 

When I was teaching, no matter the grade level, and when I teach small jewelry classes now, I tell people about my journey and how each step on it makes me light up even more, wakes up something inside of me that is very important for my personal growth.  I feel like I really NEED to share that message about making jewelry or art or just plain living. 

We can go through business wondering how we can build a stronger business, create a great customer base that continues to buy what we make even when they are saturated with what we make, and how to make it happen fast.  We all want to keep creating new work.  I get itchy fingers if I don't make jewelry.  The ideas MUST escape my head.  But people will reach a point when there is too much jewelry in our collection so there will be a slow down in the purchasing cycle.  It is natural. 

I use those phases to work on my online presence, explore ideas in mosaics and watercolors, and connect with people.  I adore connecting with people!  I truly enjoy meeting people and learning about them as individuals.  If I can support someone in any way, I do that.  I run out of money to buy others' creations but I can spread the word about the work they create.  Paying it forward matters more than I can ever say in words. 

I recently read a blog by Seth Godin.  He is really wise about this thing we call creativity and business.  He understands PEOPLE.  I read his work every time it lands in my email.  He may write something that is a quick thought or something longer like this piece 100 days later but it always makes me think, take a look at my business.  I just had to share this blog entry by him because it says everything I would tell people about building a business in art and jewelry or ANYTHING CREATIVE. 

We want to make a big splash, shout "Look at me!!!  Buy my stuff!!!" but we forget about further down the road.  My whole approach to my business and my art IS to look further down the road.  I don't panic if an event does not net sales.  Down the road it will.  I don't panic if my listings online don't generate an immediate sale.  Down the road it will.  If it does not, I control how i react to that.  I can panic, throw in the towel and run away saying I was defeated.  I can step back, think it over, and plot another path with a different goal.  I choose the latter - to re-vamp my idea or plan.  I have never run from a challenge and I am not about to start now.

I talk to lots of people at events and vendors will ask over and over again how it is going for me, how are sales, etc.  That is normal conversational topic really.  Some get mad, offended that people are not buying their awesome things.  I choose not to do that and it makes some of them wonder.  When I explain it is the big picture that is my focus, that I am looking months and years down the road, most of them get it.  Some never do and that is okay.  I am not them.  I do not expect anyone to do what I do.  I just tell them how I am not going to panic and fall apart when my big idea creates just a ripple, not a gigantic splash. 

That ripple.... that incredibly powerful ripple is what I am aiming to create.  A splash dries off quickly.  A ripple keeps you moving, bouncing along with it for so much longer!  It keeps you awake.  It won't let you rest.  And that, my friend, is part of my journey, the thing that awakens my soul.  May you find the thing that awakens your soul.  It is amazing when you do.

Aaaaaacckkk pffffffffffftttt!!!

This is my profile picture on Facebook.  Yep, Bill D. Cat and Opus from Bloom County....  I am in an "aaaaccckkk pffffttt" kind of mind-frame lately.  I am not quite sure why but I have decided to just go with it.  What can it hurt to just drift and see where I end up? 

Granted I could drift the wrong direction and end up in quite a different place than expected but that is part of life's adventures as an artist.  You never know where you will end up.  Sometimes you end up somewhere far better than where you started, even if it looked like it was the wrong direction at the beginning of the drift. Sometimes it only looks wrong because you are fighting so hard for something else to be right. 

Either way, I am feeling like there are some changes afoot.  I love change.  It makes lots of people I know nervous but I embrace it.  It fuels me and keeps me moving forward.  It is this kind of change that makes me grow as an artist, creator - heck, HUMAN.  Change is necessary for my growth!  Some can be scary at first but then I jump in with both feet (maybe even belly-flop) and move forward.

When time is crunched and I feel like I do nothing but run, sleep very little and get stressed, that is the time to change something I am doing.  It is time to change how I fit creativity and creation into my day-to-day life.  Maybe I need to create things that are not so detailed, whimsical perhaps to keep me smiling and laughing.  Maybe I need to find inspiration in what I already have and figure out how to use it in a new way that fits my daily life better.  Maybe I need to just sit and breathe, laugh at shows like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and 30 Rock or just say "Aaaaaaaccccckkkkkkk!!!!!  Pffffffffffttt!!!!". 

So I am going to stay in Bloom County for awhile with my pals Bill D. Cat and Opus for as long as I need to and just enjoy the stimulating conversations that include "Thppft!!!".  I know it has to lead me to a fun place and fun is definitely important in my life.  I know several people who are here in Bloom County already.