Monday's Musings - What does success look like?

What does it feel like?
If I want to meet some measure of success, I have to define it.
Failure is easy to define, even many failure conditions are easily outlined and fill me head.
But what is success?


As an artist, who thankfully, doesn't depend on selling her work to eat, I am struggling with this. Have I already succeeded, in just exactly that, being in the position to make what I want to make without regard to practical matters of salability and without the pressure of needing to make the sale to feed my family, I know I am fortunate and I am gratefully aware that if I had to feed my family on my work, I would have never begun. Yet, I would like to succeed. I want to sell my work, I want people to enjoy my work and for it to have value for them. I would like to grow as an artist and teacher.

Our society often defines success in terms of money. We can decry this all we want but in part it is so because it is easy.

If I am selling my work, then I am a business, if I am a business, there are built in expectations and costs that need to be met. That is not a bad thing really. But I am struggling with defining success for myself. On one level, each thing I create is a success and if not a business then it is enough to create. That is the success. As a business the creation is not the success, I have to do all the things that lead to someone seeing, loving (hopefully,) and purchase it. And as mercantile as that may seem there is true joy and success in creating that connection too.

So I guess success for me is the joy of the lady buying up my scarves and telling me she loves them, she hunted me down after buying one and technically I sold the remaining ones on a bus ride home over the phone.  It is the lady would brought in the hat she made from my hand spun yarn, to show me what she had made. It is the lady who got some of my yarn as a gift and wrote a post about the creation of the shawl she made with it. It is the child who was really listening to me discussing spinning and offering me some grass to spin.

All of these are success!

But they don't fit in a ledger.

And no this post is not me saying I am done selling. It is certainly, not me saying I am done creating. It is me wondering about how I can set a definition of a goal of success that has a fixed point. And right at this moment I have no answer. Maybe you do?

Still Pondering ~ Julia

Monday Morning

One of the things I do on my personal blog is write on Monday about what is going on what I am thinking and intending for the week. I thought that might be fun here. Over there I use a framework and I think I will use something like it here, but not the same one.

Right now I am...
In my kitchen drinking coffee, from the mug my Mother-in-law gave me. I have a fresh lemon and rosemary infusion scenting the air.

In Video Production...
I have one more section - the results - to work on for the green skein video I mentioned in the chatty podcast and then some minor edits. I am hoping to have it live on Wednesday. Shooting will begin on the New Mystery Spin video this week! I am really curious to see what is in the box!

On the Wheel...
Actually, right at this moment nothing but I am working on some test skeins of Corriedale Wool for a friend who will be knitting an Aran sweater. We are working together on this as a gift for (not telling) and I have spun an oiled 2-ply Spun Z-S, next is an oiled three ply Spun Z-S, then both again but Spun S-Z, then one (whichever she is leaning towards liking best) un-oiled. I am making her one oz samples to swatch and compare. This project will be fit in around other things.

On the Loom...
Will be a blanket, I have decided to weave and waulk a wool blanket, partially as a get to know the ins and outs of this loom, partially as a demo piece for The Rare Breeds Show at Garfield Farm Museum.

In the Dyepot...
More self striping yarn!

Papers and Bolts...
This week I need to send in the application for another show and get in contact with the guy who runs my farmer's market.  I also really need to update the Etsy and Square Stores!

Who I am watching... 
Mina at Knitting Expat. Grace at Spin Weekly. Rachel at Wool N' Spinning. And Kate at Milk Thistle.