To those in England now abed...or watching TV and winding down. I wish I could send you a few moments from my evening. Some sleepy harbour cats, the warm air, the red of the broken earth, and a slice of sun buttered sycamore seeds to view!
I really love it here. So do my kids. In some ways it's better than when we first arrived as we have solved our immediate problems: Where can we shop? What can we buy the kids will eat? That sort of thing. I mentioned to my husband that there must be an ideal balance between new and known. He tells me there is an equation for it, lots of science and research done. Scientists have worked out how much we should explore new things for our optimum survival! Well I'm no scientist but I can tell you that no new things is too little! I'm glad I shoehorned my family out of our rut!
I've decided that life's activity can be put into three categories; Making a fool of yourself, not making a fool of yourself, and doing the things you are brilliant at. The fun is all in the first and the last catagories.
For example I made a fool of myself when I told everyone I was going to have 25 facepainters working for me in Sussex, Kent and Surrey and had it all worked out to turn over £100,000 a year in facepainting! The most I ever had work for me was four, part time, and it was still only a marginally profitable business - but I don't regret all the hours of planning, organising and working! I had a blast making a fool of myself.
I think I made a fool of myself starting a craft fair in a downturn, when a farmers market a week was closing in the UK! I did start it, and it ran for several successful years but I was never able to expand it enough (get more fairs in different places) to make a living. I think I helped a lot of artists, I know I had a lot of fun, but honestly - didn't make too much money for the effort!
I didn't make a fool of myself when I took a job that was well paid doing technical textiles, not creative textiles, it was a good job, sensible choice, and I learned what it's like to drag yourself from your bed to face a hated 9:00 to 5:00 for six months, then I made a fool of myself and quit without a plan or a job to go to!
The other good category is "doing what you are brilliant at" joy is also to be found here. My four years doing a BA in textile design, messing about with fabric, dyes, paints, printing machines and looms panned out as fun, fun and happiness. Likewise my morning a week of designing for my current studio is a looked forward to treat. I get to work (instead of cook and change nappies) I get to excel, be me, be a designer, someone with a future, independence, and great competence born of study, observation and lots of practice, but, and here is my point, once upon a time I made a fool of myself trying to start a textiles degree while still unclear the difference between textiles and fashion! And long before that I made a fool of myself learning to draw. All the good stuff follows after making a fool of yourself!
And if you lack the confidence to walk into new places and new situations, I give you this brilliant tip from my big brother, pretend! Acted confidence, to the people around you is in no practical l way different from real confidence! And the beauty of this tip, we have both found that real confidence naturally follows pretended confidence, you start like you know what your up to and shortly after you do!
So now I'm thinking what shall we do to make fools of ourselves in June when our time in Spain is over?
Buy a minibus and convert it, I don't really have the know how or funds so I'm bound to make a fool of myself trying! Try to get a house sit in some exotic location to give us more time to save for a built camper? Set off in a trailer tent with no plan! I'm not really planning to not make a fool of myself and rent a little flat and resume normal!
What do you think?
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