by: Noelle Backer

A Year for the History Books

Well, you know what they say, “If you can’t look back on a year and either laugh or cry, it wasn’t a year lived well.” … 2001 has probably made many of us laugh and cry more than any other year. It was a year that will make the history books, that will be spoken of every day for years and years and years to come. It was a frightening, life-changing year, leaving us to face much uncertainty in the year ahead.

But 2001 was also a humanizing year, one that has reminded us what it is to laugh, to enjoy life, to appreciate our country, to love thy neighbor, or least let him be himself. It has reminded us to keep an eye on our priorities, as they can so easily get away from us.

When I first started in this field, I was so inspired by the lifestyle and passion of craft artists that it permeated my life. I made sure my priorities were straight, that I wasn’t spending all of my time at “work,” even though I have a job that I love. I made sure to balance my work energy with my creative energies. I took more ceramics and drawing classes, I bought new paints, I even started to learn to play the guitar.

Somehow, over the last couple of years, I have started losing sight of some things. The first eight months of 2001 went by in what seemed like only weeks. All of a sudden I realized that several bags of clay I had ordered early in the year (and had been eagerly anticipating their arrival), had gone unopened. My paintbrushes were dry. My sketchpad was lying under several dust bunnies on top of a stack of books in the closet. For many months, I had forgotten and missed out on the energy that these creative endeavors instilled in me.
In the last few months, I vowed to keep my priorities in the forefront of my daily life. That doesn’t mean I don’t work late on deadlines anymore, or take work home on the occasional weekend. It just means that I will do the best I can in the time I have to do it, and I won’t worry as much. I have also vowed to not get angry at rude people — it is true that if you get angry, their rudeness takes effect. (If the tree falls in the forest … If the rude person is a jerk …)

I have vowed to do what I want to do more — to paint, to sculpt, to learn something new, to make time for life between work and sleep. And, perhaps more importantly, I have vowed to make work once again a more inspired part of my life, part of making every day worth living. (Theme song from “Rocky” playing in background.)

While I seem to be an exception to the rule (except among artists) in that I actually like my job, and it is a passion of mine, it is not my only passion. And I have definitely found that focusing too much in one direction can be draining. It is called burnout … and craft artists seem to know it all too well.

Running a business can take over your creativity. We’ve featured so many articles about artists who suddenly found themselves as business managers, so far removed from what they love best about their business that they almost forgot the point of what they were doing. Just like I often forget to enjoy my job in the midst of a deadline.

With the start of a new year, it’s time for me to look ahead to how I want my life to be this year, to evaluate where I can make changes, where I can use help to make my life a little better.

Hopefully The Crafts Report will help you manage your businesses better so that you can do the same — make the time for experimenting with a new medium, for walking along the river, going to the beach, or trying a musical instrument. We are all responsible for our own happiness, and to me, it’s the most important responsibility of my life. Living each day to the fullest can be a tall order, but one that seems more than worth the effort.

 

JANUARY 2002 : TABLE OF CONTENTS