Works in Process or is it Progress?

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Yesterday I posted over at Fibery Goodness about the springing of spring all around me which included an open invitation to have lunch with Jan Massie and myself next weekend at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival — here is the link to the post. 

doodlerThis morning, someone said to me that it sounded like I was making good progress on some things which quite frankly was a surprise because most of the time, I feel like I’m just plowing around in the mud trying to get things to a finished state.  For example, and since this is a fiber-related space on the internet, I have been working on one knitting project for many months:  the Doodler by Steven West.  It has been an act of brute force a lot of the time to keep going.  I am now truly on the home stretch.  I am not sure how many hours I have left, but relatively speaking, not that many.  I am so ready to be DONE because I want to make something else.  Well, I want to make a lot of things, but I have a strict rule now that I only let myself work on one thing at a time until it is finished.  I adopted this rule a few years ago when I had a number of unfinished things that were no longer exciting me.  I got rid of them all — some I had finished by someone else, some I dismantled, and some I just trashed.  I cleaned house of those “works in process”…or UFO’s as we like to call them.  They were definitely NOT Works in Progress. 

And, yes, my rule about having to finish something before I move is a bit constraining, but it does prevent the feeling I hate worse of incompleteness in my life.

Soon, then, I will be moving onto something new in terms of my own personal Fibery Goodness production. 

My view now on the Doodler is that it is a Work in Progress. 

Alternatively, deep inside of my heart, Work in Process has been happening.  The time I spend mentoring others and helping them to succeed is becoming more and more important.  For example, this past week, I was a judge for the first Entrepreneurship Competition at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).  Our job, as judges, was to evaluate the pitches of 8 teams of current and past students and then, award $100,000 generously provided by the Ratcliffe Foundation.  MICA has recognized, correctly, that many students who want to pursue an art-related career, may well have to go into business for themselves and the school is passionate about giving them the tools to do that.  It was a long day but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Another sign as to how my heart is leading me, is the recent broadcast we did for Fibery Goodnesss that was focused on Prioritizing and Focus for people running a fiber arts business.  If you missed it, here is the link to the page.  We had a really nice response to it and we will do more. 

I very much enjoy all the successes I have had, but honestly, it pales in comparison to helping others succeed — which is of course, one of the reasons I started this website way back when.  So, stay tuned…there are some amazing ideas that are part of this Work in Process.

Until next time, Arlene

4 thoughts on “Works in Process or is it Progress?”

  1. The one time I met you, you not only touched my life, you made such an impact that I eagerly look forward to any information and ideas you wish to toss out there! Thank you for sharing!!

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