i can't get no sat-tis-fac-tion

Is it a sign of inspiration or dissatisfaction when your mind won’t quit? I’ve been overloaded in thoughts of things I could make. I’m sketching madly and buying fabric and ribbons and trims, but have hardly any time to actually make any of them.

I spent most of Sunday sewing, but keeping the confidence is something of a struggle at the moment. Elle and Kilkenny popped around on Sunday afternoon, we sat in the shade of the tree on our grassy patch out the back drinking icy cold water. I showed them the cushions I’d been sewing, and told them of my plan to make crafty things to sell.
“How much do you expect to get for them?” they asked
“Oh, maybe $10 or $20 if I’m lucky”
With that they reached into their wallet and offered me $10, (in a gesture that said “why work all day long for $10? Isn’t your Sunday worth more than that?”)

It got me thinking. I mean they’re right, right? But still, there’s something more to all of this. Like I said at the beginning it’s a sign of dissatisfaction in what I’m currently doing that I’m considering these things in the first place. And I’m lucky that there’s inspiration at the same time otherwise I’d just be feeling crappy. At very least it’s giving me a bit of hope. Hope, I suppose, that there are alternate ways of living in this world that don’t involve commuting in peak hour and working 9 to 6 or 7pm at a desk all week long. I’m growing so weary of that.

There are people out there who do it; who earn a living in more flexible ways, and from sources that are more authentic to who they are. And the only difference I can see between them and the rest of us, is that they are actually doing it. They don’t have this conflict of confidence that stops them from even starting, and at the risk of sounding like I’m promoting a brand of sport shoe: they just do it!

I’m not jumping in head deep. I’m not expecting to earn a living from craft. I’m just doing things that I enjoy doing and seeing where it leads, if anywhere. I mean that’s what the wise always tell us right – “Find something you like doing, and do it well”?

My first hurdle is to stop worrying about it all and just start FOR GOD SAKE! (I’m not sure who invented doubt, but I’m sure they didn’t intend it to be used in these instances.)

I’ve been quiet this week, and now you’re probably glad of it. But thanks for listening through all this thick anxiety. And thanks to those who lead the way and inspire me more every day: Jen at Piddleloop, Amy at Angry Chicken, Hillary at Wee Wonderfuls, and all the rest of you crafty vixens.