Creating

To me, making little stuff leads to making big stuff

A throwback to my first birthday when my whole family went to Disney World, and I stayed at the hotel with a babysitter. Third child 😂

This week, I turn 34. I’m one of those weird people that mentally thinks they’re the next age for half a year before it’s true. In January I started saying “I’m turning 34 this year” when asked my age instead of just “I’m 33.” Why am I always trying to sound older than I am? Or pass time when it doesn’t need any help speeding up? Another ST for another day. 

Ranna asked me last week, what do you want to do on your birthday? Go on a hike (what we did last year), out to lunch, something special? And I realized: I want to create. Thankfully, I have a lot of custom work on my plate right now so I do actually have to create. It’s pretty necessary for me to sit at my bench more days than one this week to get done what needs to get done in time for the deadlines we set. Currently, I have a handful of client rings, a rather detailed bangle, a special lil something for Hobbs in September, and a thousand house projects I’d love to tackle (but likely never will). I spent the weekend working on five pendants and three rings for two different clients (the dream!!! They both picked my wildcard ideas!), a new needlepoint canvas Ranna gifted me, and I sewed a pillow for Gray’s room (I should also mention that our wifi has been down since last Wednesday, and it’s amazing what I can accomplish when TV is out of the question). And now I’m trying to think of other ways I can create this week to really overflow my cup. 

I’m not sure what it is about August. Maybe it’s the feeling of school starting that gives that new year, new me burst of inspiration feeling. Maybe it’s my birthday. Maybe it’s the business’ anniversary. Maybe it’s that slight chill in the air giving hope for my favorite season, Fall. Maybe it’s the exciting anticipation of a full Fall for work and personal things (this Virgo loooves a full calendar!!). But something about August fills me with creative energy. The stuff that I’m working on at my bench right now has technically already been designed so it’s just the execution in wax, but I think that’s the piece of the puzzle that challenges me most. I can sketch and design all day long but the end result is entirely dependent upon the how. How the hell am I going to do the thing I envisioned in my mind? Sometimes I know, and sometimes I’m making it up as I go, learning a lot and getting wildly frustrated along the way. But aren’t those the projects we feel most fulfilled by and proud of? The ones that took everything out of us to complete and then actually turned out okay? We hate em when they’re happening but feel like a proud lil mama bear when they’re finished. 

I mentioned in one of my first ST that I write letters to my daughter. I’ve also mentioned she’s three, so she’s not reading them for a long time. But I do feel like these ST are sometimes similar to the sentiments behind the letters to my daughter - lessons in things I believe matter in life. Before G was born, my sister-in-law gave her a book called Be a Maker. (My last name really is Maker, did you know that? It’s not just some awkward persona I gave to myself lol. I married into it.) In the book it talks about how everyday you can choose to be a maker. You can make choices that bring your neighbors together. Make friends, make a difference in your community, etc. It’s a really beautiful story, and I thoroughly enjoy reading it as often as G pulls it off the shelf. Being a parent is a crazy thing. When she’s in school, I’m so zoned into my work and myself and all the day to day logistics of running a business and home and marriage and kids activities and a social life, etc. But when it’s bedtime and we’re snuggled in her bed reading books, I’m snapped into the reality that it’s up to me, my husband, and the adults we surround her with to shape her into a good human. In my mind, that really is the most important thing we do as parents - shape little humans into good big humans. To me, making little stuff leads to making big stuff (in the case of humans, yes, but also in the case of my own work - I make jewelry and beautiful goods, but what I really want to do is make others happy and connected and feel all those good feelings because a piece I made brings them peace, joy, and confidence). 

I always find it interesting when my clients tell me that they aren’t creative. Because here’s the truth: we’re all creative. I believe we were created and the being that created us is the most creative because holy moly there are seven billion people on this planet and every single one is unique!! So, if we were created, there is creativity within us. You might look at a spreadsheet all day in your job, moving numbers around in a formulaic way. But reading and understanding those numbers, heck, creating the damn spreadsheet itself, requires creativity! You have to use your brain and think of how it all puzzle pieces together to make sense. Doctors practice medicine, yes, but advancements in that medicine are only available because doctors and researchers look at the available medicine and think creativity about how it could be done differently, better, more sustainable, more comfortable for patients, etc. Every job/career/role in life is creative, whether you think so or not.  

I may have lost the point here along the way (shocker), but I’ll leave you with the beginning and ending of the book to ponder - “Ask yourself this question in the morning when you wake: in a world of possibilities, today, what will you make? … Ask yourself this question as the sun begins to fade: in a day of making choices, are you proud of what you made?”

Just doing my dang best,
Mary Frances

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