Living on my Worktable

Finally I'm emerging after this crazy weekend... I hadn't expected very much for my shop, but I was actually busy - what a lovely surprise!

How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was lovely - as every year, we celebrated with friends and had such a nice afternoon/evening together with lots of laughter. The turkeys (yes, we had two, one oven roasted and one barbecued) and sides were yummy, the dessert delicious and of course we had our wonderful pumpkintinis - no Thanksgiving without them!

But I didn't really want to write about Thanksgiving since I already did that in my last post. Today I want to show you what is on my worktable - not what I am working on, but who lives there as permanent residents.

First, there is this beautiful bird that I got from the amazing Kelly Thiel.

I have always loved Kelly's birds, but to call one my own is very special. This bird means so much to me - she is small and looks a tiny bit timid, at the same time she has this expression on her face that is full of courage, strength and power. And a sense of "I don't care what others think of me". Exactly what I need! I wish I could care less what others think of me - I'm already way better in this regard than a few years ago. I grew up with parents who always said "what shall the other people think" - is that really important? What I think of myself, how I see myself and what I want to achieve should be more important - otherwise we just get stuck in mediocreness (is that a word?) and will never be happy.

Trust in yourself - this is what Kelly wrote on one side, exactly the right message for me. So often I do not trust in myself, doubt myself, question what I'm doing. Too often I'm not letting my intuition guide my hand. I wish I worked more intuitive when I'm painting or just creating.

Look at this beautiful bird - who could not love her? I am forever thankful that she has found a home in my studio, on my worktable.

The other "resident" is this little buddha that Kaefer made in sixth grade:

Buddha with all his wisdom and calmness - another "virtue" I'd like to have. Okay, I've given up on the wisdom, but I still wish I was more calm. I'm getting better in telling myself that Rome wasn't built in seven days and that I can take it a bit easier and not do everything at the same time. I don't have to return a phone call or mail right NOW, I can actually wait until I have made the bed, done the dishes or eaten breakfast. Nothing will go up in fire. 

When the computer doesn't work the way I want him to (of course a computer is a HE!), I get restless and sometimes even shout at him, or at least curse like a fishwife (I apologize to all fishwives...). The Geek is the poor chap who gets it all from me, even though it really is not his fault (but he's a geek, so he should know!). I hate myself in those moments.

And my little girl sits there and creates Buddha's toes - just look at that. She is so focused when she works on her "stuff" (she loves to create with polymer clay).

So I need to learn more of this calm Buddha pose. Let go of worries and trust more in myself, and in the future. Sometimes I wonder how much I miss because I worry so much.