Words of Wisdom

I copied this from my friend Donna Kato's blog this morning. I like her thinking!

making

When I began working with polymer clay, I remember that new ideas came flying out and fast. I couldn't finish one thing without a new thing coming forth. It was pretty amazing. There were always new techniques, new ways to looking at polymer clay and new ways of making it do new things.

Now, that went on for many years, our medium is so versatile, you can work for many, many years, maybe a life time before you come to what you might consider the end of innovation but, it does for most of us, slow down.

It's not that one day you're full and the next day, you're empty, no, it's a gradual thing. I happen to think it's a natural and normal thing. Thing is, you have to have faith that it's not a period at the end of a creative sentence but a very natural slowing down. You can't run at full speed forever and not burn out.

When it happens, that slow down, you have to believe that there is more in the well and that it will come. I believe that because it always has. Maybe one day the well will run dry, I suppose that could happen. I think about that sometimes but I brush off those thoughts because they can be paralyzing. Hey, why worry about something that isn't yet and may never be a reality?

Innovation is great and exciting but equally rewarding is simply creating something you love. It doesn't have to be new and ground breaking, not all the time. Making is its own reward and you know, making frequently stokes the fire, gets the juices flowing and then you get innovation.

So, don't worry, be happy. Make and enjoy and be kind to yourself, too.