Small Victories

So the need to get back to posting a little more regularly has been nagging at me this week. Yes, sometimes I should just do short posts – maybe this will be one of them (but don't hold your breath.) I woke up this morning and thought that I should get off my duff today and post something. So I went through what I have in the can, and although I am pleased with it, nothing struck me as quite right for today.

The answer then becomes, “so write something.” But what? Well, here I am. As I thought about what I had to say, what I've been up to....and it was “not enough.” So I thought I'd talk about remembering that even the small victories count. And they add up.

I've been blessed with an unexpected summer at home. And I thought I'd have so much more done (always the way). But I completed 3 courses for an unrelated interest early in the summer, and that ate up a bunch of time, and that is a victory. And I have been working, albeit piecemeal, on a number of projects that have needed getting to. And I've been working on the garden – which is a long term project here that does, in fact relate to the business.

So, beginning to make the pattern pieces from the ones I was fortunate enough to get from a generous tinsmith is a small victory. Layout of some of the pieces for the Museum of Dufferin show I will be participating in for Christmas is a small victory. Getting more of the garden layout and planting done is a (medium sized?) small victory. And allowing myself the rest I needed to feel like I could start to tackle things again is actually a pretty big victory.

It is hard – particularly when you are self employed and an artist in any sense – to look back on what you did that day and see any kind of accomplishment. Oh, if you finish a painting, or complete an order, or do a bunch of production of castings, maybe not so much. Those are the easier days. But when you are figuring out a pattern or doing trial and error of how to construct a piece, carving, or laying down a wash and just the initial ideas...not so much. No one is setting or keeping track of the schedule but us. It can be hard at the end of the day to remember what it is you did.

Last summer I started to write it all down in a notebook. 3 hours here, 2 hours on that, half hour lunch...so that at the end of the day I could see that yes, I'd spent hours photographing pieces, or working on building the inventory program. It helped immensely. This year I've let that slide, but I'm thinking I should pick it up again. It really helps to keep track of the small steps that lead to completion. It reminds us that we did do the work, that the work is leading to something.

When you can keep track of the small victories, and remember where they are going, it really helps you to get to the finish line on any project. I have about another month before my time starts to get divided – maybe a little less. I have a lot of goals on the list that I haven't even started working toward. Perhaps my biggest goal should be reinforcing the pattern of work – when there isn't a deadline I try to do a little on this, switch tasks (unless I'm engrossed), a little on that. Slow bites of progress that cover a lot of ground and keep me from getting bored or overwhelmed.

Sometimes it is enough just to do the work – any work – as it gets you moving in the right direction, gives those creative juices a direction to flow in. Sometimes it is enough just to light the forge, pick up the hammer, or prep the paper and pick up the pen, or the brush. If we think of that act as a small victory we can see we are one step closer to the goal.