I've felt kind horrid today: sinus headache combined with an ocular migraine. Not fun. I gave up and went back to bed for a nap before it was even noon. And then when I forced myself to go to the local library booksale fundraiser, I had to leave after I found only a single book. The volunteer who was taking the money asked me why. I told her that I couldn't read the titles on the books because I literally couldn't focus. Embarrassing but the truth.
I hope to be able to go back before the sale ends Saturday; I can't afford to spend much but it sure would be fun to find some books to enjoy.....not that I don't already have tons of books and I did promise myself Not to buy books this year. But it's the library booksale and it's for charity and the prices are really low. (Yes, that IS me whining pitiably.)
When I stopped at the dollar store for cat food on the way home (and, yes, I probably really should not have been driving since I couldn't see properly but I had eBay shipments that absolutely had to be mailed today), I got chatting with the cashier about work and earning money. She said it made her feel sad to have to be away from her kids to go to work. I made several suggestions about low and no-cost stuff she could sell online.
But she said the thing that so very many people say: But I'm not creative. I told her that she didn't have to be; the important thing was to be persistent and keep trying.
Really, it seems to me that most of the "creative" people I've know are not taking advantage of their talents sufficiently. Too often I hear them saying that doing stuff to sell or whatever "compromises" their creative principles. Well, I've gotta tell you that creative principles won't put veggies on the table.
Worse, creative people tend to lose focus on what is really important. They zero in on some tiny point of imperfection and allow it to consume them when what they really need is to keep their eyes on the prize. Perfectionism won't necessarily earn you anything either.
What we need to do is to figure out what exactly it is that we can do. And then we need to start doing it. We need to experiment to see what works. We need to keep trying until we can do better. But, in the meanwhile, we just have to keep going. Rarely does anyone do everything she can. I know that I don't and that I could/should do much more.
Importantly, we shouldn't listen to naysayers. I know one of those people, and his words will put me down in a heartbeat. He criticizes everything without offering any glimmer of hope. Last time I showed him something I was working on (and it was really a cute fun thing), he was so unkind that I ended up destroying the work I had done. And that was very foolish indeed. It taught me a lesson: Since I can't tune him out, I will never again risk sharing my ideas with someone I can't trust to be thoughtful and kind.
It's funny perhaps but I realize that what I told that store checker today was actually what I needed to hear myself:
We don't have to be creative, just persistent.
Encouraging you also encourages me.
Life is good.
Never give up.
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