Making A Change

Years ago, when I scribbled this note on a piece of paper, I knew I needed to make a change. The demands of my jewelry business were too great and left too little time for creativity. I felt a part of me was withering and I desperately needed to bring it back to life.

my weekly reminder for the last 5 years...
 

With my brain scrambling to figure out the first steps, I wanted one simple guideline to follow. As you can see, it took a couple of cross-outs to get it right: “work” simply did not belong in my newfound mantra. Of course, that’s not to say a creative life isn’t work at times, because it is. I just needed this to be about how I live my life, not just what I do for work. I have read this note every single week for the last five years.

With a sort of “one door closes and another opens” mentality, I let go of my jewelry business entirely and entered a period of “incubation”. I needed to reconnect with my creativity and wanted the process to unfold in its own way and in its own time.

There is a quote I’ve always loved: “Between the wish and the thing life lies waiting.” (unknown author)

I find it so easy to conjure up “the wish”. Just the imagining of it in my mind’s eye can make it seem so close and ready for the taking. I often find this early exhilaration gives way to a murkier and more challenging road. Given how much of life is spent chasing the “things” we’re after, learning to live well in the “betweenness” seems a wise thing to do.

Still, I struggle with the tension between wanting to “arrive” and knowing that true results cannot be hurried. It is easy to become impatient, especially in our fast-paced society. When I focus too much on the end result, anxiety creeps in. Alternately, when I truly let go into the process of creating, a calmness and deeper sense of fulfillment take over.

'Rising'
 

Nevertheless, little by little, my efforts are adding up and the change I so wanted is well underway. I’m seeing my voice as an artist develop and emerge. There was a moment after finishing a recent piece titled “Rising” that I saw something of myself reflected back. The flower felt like my creativity rising up and all the varied textural marks were vestiges of that journey.

Starting this blog is another type of emergence for me as I begin to share my thoughts, inspiration, and creative process. It is also a much needed way of connecting, something that I used to get from exhibiting at shows, and miss quite a bit. So whether you are an old friend or customer or someone stumbling upon my work for the first time, I very much welcome your comments, even if it is just to say hello.