I know, i’m terrible at posting with any sort of regularity. Just know, that it’s not that I don’t want to keep you all informed, just that… well, life is what happens when you’re busy making plans. I will try to get a few sample pics up tonight of what i’ve been working on – which isn’t a whole lot, but that is mostly on purpose. I’m trying a new approach to life and i’m trying to take time for myself every weekend instead of trying to be an uber productive maniac, but since the weekend is really the only time I can get any work done, things are progressing slowly. I’m also trying a new (well new for me, standard for other potters) method of organizing my time in the basement. Instead of making enough to fill my little kiln and then firing>glazing>firing, i’m working on making as much as will fill the shelves, then I will load the kiln for bisque firing etc.
The good news is Christina and I will hopefully be doing 4 faires this year. Last year we only did 2 and I initially only wanted to do 3 this year so as not to overload myself, which I have a tendency to do and I have an amusing anecdote from the universe telling me to knock it off, but 1 fair that we looked at is a 1 day event, it’s a relatively short affair (10-3) and it’s located much closer to us, so it was kind of a “oh f*** it, lets just go for it.” Christina has been much more ambitious than I but we balance each other well.
I noted to myself recently that I don’t take enough time for myself, as I have mentioned – there were a couple of red flags that I ignored but i’m trying to pay attention now so I don’t get assigned to a mental institution when my threshold is reached, or better, not to reach the threshold at all. Part of the time I now take for myself is knitting and spinning, 2 activities that not only do I enjoy but can be fairly mindless, done in front of the idiot box and that don’t have a deadline. Yay no deadlines! I have also felt like my brain wasn’t being stimulated at all this past year - I like thinking, in fact I am a non-stop thinker (sometimes a problem, but I digress), I like learning as well and I’ve wanted to learn a new language for quite awihle, most options out there are expensive and time consuming at best – yes even Rosetta Stone, I don’t know about you, but dropping $300- $600 at one time for a leisure activity is just not in the budget. BUT, and I was very excited to learn this, Rosetta Stone does offer certain languages online at $20/month for 1 year. Hooray! I can do that! Long story short, I’m now learning German. It’s more difficult than I thought – in a good way and I can do it for 20 or 30 minutes whenever I make some down time or while dinner is cooking. If your PC or laptop has a built in microphone (which mine does) you don’t even need a headset! WOOT!
This leads me to my amusing anecdote from the universe. I was so excited about beginning to learn German, and feeling very ambitious that I mentioned half-jokingly to a friend of mine, that maybe I should sign up for another language online. Mind you, I work 40 hours a week at the day job, not including the 2 hour round trip commute, and a home and family to take care of on top of my pottery ambitions. In short, he told me my head might explode. That same day, I got a fortune cookie that told me “You can’t be anything if you try to be everything.” ‘HA!”, I says, ”Classic. Duly noted Universe.” And on my merrry way I went, giggling at the irony. Apparently the universe felt I wasn’t taking it seriously the first time and my Rob Brezsny horoscope today said “If Mark Twain had had Twitter,” says humorist Andy Borowitz, “he would have been amazing at it. But he probably wouldn’t have gotten around to writing Huckleberry Finn.” I think you’re facing a comparable choice, Gemini. You can either get a lot of little things done that will serve your short-term aims, or else you can at least partially withdraw from the day-to-day give-and-take so as to devote yourself with more focus to a long-range goal. I’m not here to tell you which way to go; I just want to make sure you know the nature of the decision before you.”
Hmm, well played, universe, well played…