Thoughts for the Day

Keep Your Girlfriends Close

Good morning my friends... it does appear to be another day of lovely blue skies, sun shine and a light breeze here in Minnesota. I have much to do today and quite frankly my next seven days are packed with schedules of where I need to be and what time, etc. I will come up for air next Wednesday. lol

So this morning has been quite thought provoking and I'd love to have your feedback. What kind of person are you? Are you an island? Are you a giver? Are you a taker? Are you creative? Are you a copier? Are you generous? Are you selfish? Just some of the thoughts that have been swirling around in my mind lately.

This Spring while visiting with a friend, Shayne, she stated a profound statement that has really stuck in my mind. She stated this, "I don't have to have the whole pie. I only need a small piece of the pie. There is plenty of pie to go around". Wow, what insight and how well said is that? I just really love this analogy. You see this is how I am as a person too, but hadn't ever heard it put in words like that. I love that this sticks in my mind now, so thank you Shayne for your enlightenment on this quote.

So what does this all mean to me, or to you? Are you an artisan? Are you a stay at home Mom? Are you someone that just loves to look at thought provoking blogs and beautiful photos?

Some of my thoughts lately are this. Those of us that are God given creative beings need to bind together and support one another in all that we do. It doesn't mean that we have to share all of our secrets and styles of our creations to people that may be copying others work, but as a whole we should be supportive of fellow artisans. We should not be islands! That implies, that one that wants to be the biggest and the best, may turn themselves into an island and it can be a lonely place to be. We need each other to encourage one another, get feedback and bounce ideas off one another, and yes sometimes even teach one another how to do things. I was raised to believe that "what goes around, comes around in life. " I truly believe that if you are generous, generosity will be bestowed on you, your talents and your business. If you are stingy in your offerings, I believe we tend to "reap what we sow".

Here is the inner struggle I have occasionally. Although my personality is such that I am a generous person, at times I struggle with this artisan/blogging thing. When you put your designs out in the world to sell, some people will see them and think I can do that, and they then go home and copy your work. Now, I'm not saying everyone does this, but I've been seeing this more and more with a few things I sell and have previously posted on my blog as well as on a site that I'm a part of elsewhere on the web. This is what irks me. When people share their vision and or ideas, it isn't meant for others to go home copy their ideas and than sell them in the next town over at a reduced price. It is usually a generous artist sharing a technique for your own use, not to go undercut the original artisan. So how do you all handle this? Recently, I've been changing things up with this particular design line and am using elements that I've not seen others copy as of yet. We'll see if that gets copied too.
I'm all for being inspired from one another and there are times when I see a fellow artisans design and I think wow, that is a great use of a certain material (maybe something unique used as a clamp) and I may than apply a similar element in a design, but not out right copy it. I guess I don't know what it would be like to not have a brain swirling full of my own ideas that I have to copy others, so maybe I'm all totally wrong.
Some hopes for my future:
My hopes in life is that never become an island. I never want to get the attitude that I'm so much better than anyone else that I don't need them in my life, that I can do it all on my own. That is a sad person in my opinion.
I hope I can continue to be generous with sharing my designs through my blog, even though I know there are people that will steal the original design idea from my blog. Hopefully, they sell in another state and not in a neighboring town. lol
I hope that I can maintain a giving attitude as my art and love of jewelry design continues to grow, and that God will continue to bless me with creativity of my own.
So there you have it, my inner struggles as an artisan that sneak up every once in a while. I have had an interesting summer with lots of exciting opportunities presented to me which I am very grateful for, as well as learning experiences as a person. Life is good!
I welcome all feedback via comments. Thanks for following my blog and sharing a bit of you with me through your comments and the impact your life has made to mine. Thanks for being my friend!