Doing what you love, making mistakes and learning!

Are you doing what you love? Do you take just a little time each day to think about what you love and how you are going to do it? I ask this because for a very long time I didn't even think about doing what I loved. I went about my day working, cleaning, taking care of everything, but me. I noticed I didn't really care about what I ate, what I did or didn't do and eventually it got to me.

So, in early 2008 I decided to start doing what I love again. It's made all the difference. My FibersStudio adventure is going full steam ahead in my spare time. Yes, my spare time. Ugh. See along with being a dreamer I am also a mom, a wife, a graphic designer & web design contractor and on and on.  All these responsibilities (!!!) have piled up over the years. Hmmm....so how do you make time to do what you love?

I began to say NO! to those things that weren't what I wanted to do. Politely of course! I gave up TV which I don't even like most of the time. I gave up the rat race. I gave up wanting new things and instead find thrifty ways to obtain through trade, making, etc. I gave up going out to dinner a lot or eating out a lot. I gave up many, many things that people do everyday without thinking. And you know what? I gained everything I love about my life back again.

I started finding and gathering my yarn, my books, my sewing machine, my loom. I started thinking about how to start this new adventure. I began knitting because at the time my kids were 7, 2 & 1. I could easily begin a knit project, go outside with the kids and run them to and from school with knitting needles with yarn in tow. It was a great start!

Then with the kids sleeping regularly after 16 months straight of NOT sleeping through the night I began to plan larger projects for the loom. I didn't get to this until a year later, but once I did I knew I could sit and weave for a time with the kids busy with projects like homemade playdough, coloring, etc. I took the time to create in the evenings when I wasn't working as a contractor. I dreamed of a logo and name for my adventure along with starting a Etsy shop!

And in the next year I made lots of scarves, lots of baby blankets and lots of mistakes! Oh, but I learned. Some things I made mistakes on I even knew better. Like the deep purple shawl I planned with this lovely cotton, rayon and flax yarn I had found in Asheville, NC almost two years ago. It's got a slub (a bump ever so often where a little extra yarn is left) in it. I used it in the warp even though I knew better! Oh, well it broke several times. I will not tell a lie. So, I cut the project short and now it is a really lovely table runner. I made mistakes with how I took pictures and learned over time no flash and afternoon daylight on a white background works wonders for your products!

Even though I did make those mistakes I never lost sight of my goals. I just kept plugging along when I could at what I love to do. In the process I feel like I am being more true to myself and I have started to pay better attention to what I need. Not what I want necessarily, but what I really need. I do need to go to bed at a decent time and sleep through the night. Something I was not doing before and really it got me way down energy wise. I started thinking about what I was eating and how my body was doing. I started riding my bike and walking again. I loved riding as a kid. What freedom! I still feel that same feeling each time I hop on. I began to do things in small increments and not all at once. And with each little gain I gained a little bit of me back.

Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of our wants, needs and goals, but with a little bit of effort and a whole lot of desire we can get back to the things that make us most happy in life and find reward in what we do.