I was just having a chat with some reborn friends who are feeling discouraged.
Pandemic, price increases, slow or limited supply issues, China knock offs, slow sales…
You know what they say “When life gives you lemons…”
(frankly I never got it, I love lemons)
My advice (for what it is worth) is step outside your comfort zone, shake it up, have some fun, get creative, play.
Try something new, do something you have always wanted to try but you were too worried to because you didn’t want to ruin a sculpt or you were afraid people would think it was weird or crazy. Have a favorite movie or holiday? Make a theme baby. Find a stuffed animal at the thrift store, bring it home, wash it, cut out its face and stick that extra head you have in there. Make a baby with four arms, two heads, or scissors for hands (awesome movie). Make a retro baby, vintage baby, a green, blue or pink baby. Make a baby with purple eyes and green hair. Make a punk rock baby, a fairy, an elf, a gnome, a bug, a turtle, a puppy, a cat, a porcupine.
Use one of your uglies you keep putting off painting (we all have one in our stash) get an onside older sculpt from BB or a cheapie someone is destashing.
Use craft paint, house paint, sharpies (don’t tell anyone I told you to do that I HATE sharpie on a baby).
Fill it with lavender, make a planter out of a ruined head, make a coin purse out of some test limbs.
Cover a baby in beads (we all have them somewhere) or feathers, wrap it in yarn, bedazzle it. Paint stars, stripes, polka dots.
Just for you, just for fun, just to get those creative juices flowing.
Put it someplace special, in a place where you create, let it be your totem, make a shrine, let it remind you that making stuff is suppose to be fun, its suppose to free you, give you pleasure, excite you, make you feel young, silly, happy.
If you are trying to do this as a “business” give yourself a break, go outside, go for a walk, take off your shoes walk in the grass, take a shower with music and sing really loud. Roll down the windows in your car and let your hair get wrecked. Go get an ice cream cone, find some cool rocks and paint them.
If we learned nothing else this year…
Life is about experiences, it is about family, love, puppies, a great plate of spaghetti, good jokes, sleeping late on Sunday, running through the sprinklers (if you don’t live in California).
Get vaccinated (because it is kind and helpful) and go to the park without a mask and let the sun shine all over you.
Work is work, and we all have stories and stuff, some of us have it better than others and there is always someone else who struggles more. Be where you are, count your blessings and ask the universe to help where you need it.
Move, live, find where your happiness is hiding, it might seem impossible but it isn’t and a little bit goes a long way, sometimes its simply opening up a window and letting some fresh air an light in.
Have a super day everyone.
PS. I can be a cranky negative arsehole, trust me I am grouch some days and imperfect but damn I try to flip that script every chance I get. Happiness takes participation.
I still stay barefoot as much as I can it really is good for you, so is hugging trees:blush:
imaging cleaning out the stalls in bare feet. Stepping in a pile:stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: