I read something recently about new years resolutions, or, specifically, about not having them. Instead, the idea was to look at the commitments in your life and make conscious decisions about which commitments were still relevant and which would be part of your life moving forward.
I really like the idea of this approach. It also is similar to something someone told me when she was making some radical life-changes; she believed that we could only do seven things well. More than that and we begin to falter somewhere. Thinking of life as a river, if it covers too much ground it just slows, and becomes a lake. To keep flowing, it must find its channel.
The last couple years of my life I have given up some things that were really important to me. Not permanently, and not necessarily willingly, but because I realized that understanding my limits meant slowing down and stepping back from some of the things that were taking up a lot of space in my life. Metalwork was one of those things. I have not made a new piece of metalwork in at least a year, and have stopped selling work online or at shows and galleries for now.
There were two reasons for this: I was having some health issues that were making it hard for me to do all the things I love, and I wanted to be able to focus on some new projects. I have enjoyed the opportunity to shift some of my priorities, though I really miss working with metal in the studio.
Within the next couple of years I expect to return to my metal studio, and in the meantime I will work on figuring out what commitments I want to keep in my life.
For now, my upcoming posts here may pertain less to metalwork and more to restoring my Karmann Ghia, or home improvements on our 1920’s farmhouse. Also, I might talk about welcoming my inner crone.
