creating while i'm waiting

I am a mule. I don't care that my sun sign animal is a crab, or that I was born in a Chinese year of the rooster. I'm a mule. A hard-working, head down, plodding mule. I strap the heaviest load I can find on my own back, and go as far as I can until one day I can do nothing but cut the straps, drop everything, and stand there braying my objections to the "unfairness" of all this work. Stubborn and silly, I do it over and over. And now I've done it again.

I have a goal in mind, a "plan" for the future. But the thing I keep forgetting is that I can plan all I want, and whatever is going to happen is going to happen without much input from me. Sure, I get to participate, but I don't really get to steer. I have to keep reminding myself to make plans, and then plan to change them. I've been working stupidly hard for the last several weeks, and when I inevitably hit the wall and crumbled, I found myself wondering just what I was doing it for.

One thing I know (for sure) is that if you want to change everything, you only have to change something. So this time I caught myself before complete implosion, took a deep breath, and said, Hey Kim, let's regroup for a while. Bead sales, like all sales, are slow, so there's no sense in trying to guess how to improve things. I guess a lot, based on what I do sell, and the bit of feedback I get. What I really need is some more serious research, and a willingness to listen, make changes, and most of all, rest up for the next round.

Another deep breath later, I posted the survey you'll find linked below. I'm waiting a few more days for the bulk of the responses to come in, and then I'll post my findings here, so you'll know just as much as I know. Maybe it will help all of us who are struggling with our little businesses these days. While I wait, I'm organizing a few things around here, and making some things that aren't beads, and that I don't mean to sell.

I dug out this nice, plain wood-and-glass box that I got super-cheap at the craft store. It's been waiting patiently for me to decorate it, and now that it's done, I find it's a nice place to store my bead inventory. I think I'll even get a couple more, so it's easy to show things to people when they show up here in person. It's fun for all concerned. Always a good thing.



Then I spotted some lovely felted bowls that someone had made, and being a Maker Of Things, I made some myself. I love them. They're perfect for lots of things, and especially perfect for beads...



It cracks me up that even when I'm taking a break from beads, I can't seem to keep from doing things that are bead-related. Maybe it's the mule in me, needing to keep going, keep going, keep going. After all, I have a job to do, and I take that very seriously. What I'm finally learning though is that even a mule needs to stop under a shady tree and get a drink of water now and then. Takes me forever to get some things through my stubborn head.

Comments

  1. Back in the olden days, mules were considered to be the smartest animal around, and horses to be some of the dumbest. The mule gets a bad rap if you ask me!

    The felted bowls are so cool!! How did you make them if you don't mind me asking?

    Penny \IiiI

    ReplyDelete
  2. I crocheted the bowls. Wool, of course. Super simple, and the washing machine did the real work. I tried hand-felting in the sink.... no way! :o)

    ReplyDelete

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