Inspiration #20 - Enthusiasm in all that we do
I've recently added a new sub-section to my blog entitled
Random thoughts and Metal Clay tips. I started it up because sometimes there are little things we do which make our tasks at hand all that easier. Please feel free to contribute a tip, so others can learn from your experience.
That being said, sometimes there simply is no secret to success. After all, as Winston Churchill has said:
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
I've got so many things going on here in my Studio - I've been enjoying my ongoing voyage of discovery ~ going down memory lane with my work as I try to sort through the piles of Boro beads I have, the mounds of (almost) finished jewelry pieces, the pure silver charms and findings and what-nots... It goes on and on.
I purchased a labeling machine a while back. I'd wanted one for a while as the idea of it appealed very much to my 'other me's' longing for organization. I admit, it went along very well initially. I've got labels suchs as "Head Pins - fancy", "Crystals - 6mm", "Frog Clasps", etc. They do look rather nice lined up so perfectly with their labels still so fresh and - well: perfect!
But I've come to realize that at some point in this mammoth task, the 'real me' took over, and set out to have some fun.
The reason I'm telling you this, is because yesterday, while rummaging about - and making some headway, I started to find other things I had labeled whilst on my binge. Things like "Waiting for the Photo Fairy", "Stuff & Also Things", (not to be confused with "My Own Stuff & Also Things"), "Something for a rainy day", and "To deal with".
They're all labeled onto these wonderful wooden cigar boxes I love, and all the boxes are rather heavy and full. Of course in some of these boxes, I found pure treasures, and was absolutely delighted. Other things I discovered came under the "what was I thinking" category. But whatever it was I had been thinking at that time, it seems I thought it more than once, because 'one' of these wasn't enough. Which brings me to:
The way to succeed is to double your error rate.
- Thomas J. Watson
When working with Boro glass, since the glass is so laden with metals, and there are so many variables, I can sit down at my torch and <think> my new color combination I came up with is totally 'killer'. Then my beads go into the kiln to anneal, and when they come out I gasp and think "what was I thinking", as I toss them into the trash. Of course this, after I've already made 10 or 20 pieces with this same combo.
But then there are times when it all comes together, and when I dance in delight. Like with these:
And these:
Seeing these lovelies simply increases my enthusiasm in all that I do, and <almost> gives me courage to open up another box or two. As I sit here in the forest, awaiting the "photo fairy", I shall leave you with this encouraging thought:
If you don't risk anything, you risk even more.
- Erica Jong
So what are YOU going to risk doing today?
