Happiest of happy new years to you! Yes you!!! And best wishes for a healthy and prosperous year.
It’s a new month and a new decade and I don’t know about you but I’m planning on this decade being the most fabulous ever! Well, I’m assuming it will be fabulous, if there’s one thing that sailing has taught me this past decade it’s that plans are very nice however it’s best just to go with the winds. When sailing Mother Nature is in charge and the best of plans mean nothing unless she agrees. For the first couple of years when sailing I would get so frustrated by thinking “oh tomorrow we’re going to X” only to wake up and find the wrong wind, or no wind, or too much wind. Eventually I figured out to just chill and sometimes stay where you are, or to go somewhere else. If Plan A doesn’t work out, move to Plan B, or Plan C or D. Relax and go where the wind blows.
It’s a philosopy that’s served me well in my work life over the past decade. 10 years ago if you had told me I’d be a glass bead artist and jewelry designer I would have laughed and then had you shipped to an asylum. Me, artistic? Me, jewelry? Uh, no. 10 years ago I had never made a pair of earrings. I had never seen a lampwork bead let alone thought of making one. 10 years ago I was fresh out of my “career” in a cubicle, had discovered sailing and didn’t know what to do with myself. I thought of opening a cafe but that wouldn’t give me any free time to go sailing down south. I thought of writing until I took a look at the paycheques of a few writers. I was floating and waiting to see which way the wind would blow. Surprise surprise.
The biggest thing I’m taking from this past decade is to dream wildly, plan madly and be open to anything. Because where you end up could be exactly where you planned to be, or the last place you expected.
Speaking of the past, here’s a picture from the archives – my very first jewelry “booth”. October 2002, a $40 table at the Distillery, downtown Toronto. My laundry table, hallway mirror and my first creations, before I’d even made a single glass bead of my own. Sailorgirl, you’ve sailed a long way in the past decade.
So where will I be a decade from now? Should be interesting to see, I’m up for an adventure!