Big Magic
Have you read "Big Magic"? It's written by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of "Eat, Pray, Love." A friend suggested I read "Big Magic", and loaned me her copy.
The book was a little slow in some parts, but the overall message most certainly hit me. It came at a time when I really needed it.
I have been struggling with the piggy banks. I enjoy making them, but often feel they take away from my time making other work. My biggest hang up is that I have this notion that because of them my other work has been stagnant... and deep down inside I think I don't want to be known as the potter that makes piggy banks.
Big Magic has made me look at them in a new way.
A few years back, Jeff and I knew that we would have to find a new place to live and work. Our pottery business was not making enough of a profit to qualify for a mortgage.
I started looking for a job so that we could have at least one steady paycheck. During my short, and fruitless, search... Jeff convinced me that I was giving up too soon. It was then that we decided our focus would turn to online selling. We studied the ins and outs of Etsy marketing. Through our hard work and determination the piggy banks, and Jeff's vessel sinks, started to really take off. If you have been following our story, you know that in a couple of years we were profitable enough to purchase our home and studio, in downtown Seagrove...albeit, by the skin of our teeth!
In the book, Gilbert encourages people to keep their day/night job while pursuing creativity. If you have to depend on creativity to pay the bills, and it isn't able to, then you will no longer enjoy it.
I have decided to think of the piggy banks as my day job. And who could have asked for a better one? I get to work from home, and I still get my hands in clay.
The next step I need to take is this:
When I finish my day job, I need to carve out time for more creative pursuits.
And it doesn't always have to be about clay. It just has to spark my curiosity and bring me joy.
The book was a little slow in some parts, but the overall message most certainly hit me. It came at a time when I really needed it.
Big Magic has made me look at them in a new way.
A few years back, Jeff and I knew that we would have to find a new place to live and work. Our pottery business was not making enough of a profit to qualify for a mortgage.
I started looking for a job so that we could have at least one steady paycheck. During my short, and fruitless, search... Jeff convinced me that I was giving up too soon. It was then that we decided our focus would turn to online selling. We studied the ins and outs of Etsy marketing. Through our hard work and determination the piggy banks, and Jeff's vessel sinks, started to really take off. If you have been following our story, you know that in a couple of years we were profitable enough to purchase our home and studio, in downtown Seagrove...albeit, by the skin of our teeth!
In the book, Gilbert encourages people to keep their day/night job while pursuing creativity. If you have to depend on creativity to pay the bills, and it isn't able to, then you will no longer enjoy it.
I have decided to think of the piggy banks as my day job. And who could have asked for a better one? I get to work from home, and I still get my hands in clay.
The next step I need to take is this:
When I finish my day job, I need to carve out time for more creative pursuits.
And it doesn't always have to be about clay. It just has to spark my curiosity and bring me joy.
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