Musings from a tired woman

I'm tired. Every part of me is tired. My brain is tired. My arms are tired. I'm just completely and utterly tired.

Over the last three and a half months, from receiving my acceptance letter to Fall Festival until now, I've been effectively working two full-time jobs. There's the job I go to during the day, that currently pays my bills, and the job that I squeeze into my evenings and weekends, that creates all this jewelry.

But, no matter how tired I am, I feel like I can't really complain. Because, over the last three and a half months, I've been slowly pushing myself up to the next level. Which was one of my top goals for this year.

The funny part is that, when I set this as a goal, I said that I wanted to work full-time as a jewelry maker. Apparently I should have been a little more clear, because, at this point, I am working full-time as a jewelry maker (I'm just also working full-time somewhere else too).

A few years ago, when I first stumbled onto the lovely blog of Penelope Dullaghan, I found my way to this slideshow she created about her experience with making that giant leap to working for yourself. And she mentioned that it got to a point where she was juggling her own work with the job work and just had to break free from one or the other in order to keep her sanity. And that's how she knew it was time to leap off on her own. I loved the slideshow, but I always hoped that I wouldn't have to get to the same sort of breaking point. Turns out, I think that's exactly how it'll work out.

So, my new goal is to work only for myself as an art jewelry maker (or other creative whatnot, but not work for anybody else).

Is that clear enough, universe?

I've been so tired lately that my brain hasn't been thinking particularly creatively. I've been in production mode, churning out pieces for upcoming shows. I haven't been conceiving of new ideas. But, apparently, even in my tiredness, my brian is able to recognize just what excitingness I'm in the middle of, and where I should be headed next. (And, trust me, even as tired as I am, I can tell that there's great stuff coming.)

In the meantime, if you're in the Corvallis, Oregon area next weekend, drop by Fall Festival and say hi. I also just got word that the Artisan Show & Sell is definitely on for October 4 in Signal Hill. So, if you're in the Southern California area, swing by that evening. And, while I'm planning on taking a bit of a break after these shows, stay tuned for exciting holiday events and announcements (which, amazingly, is just around the corner).