Noted

An interesting thing happened the other day... During my lunch break, I was working away on a particular drawing that I am intending to send to a friend. The general idea of the drawing is as if a whole lot of bits and bobs have been tipped out of a bag and scattered around, and these are the things I have drawn. Each item relates to my friend in some way or another, so though to the average person it might look like a strange subject for a piece of artwork, it is has a lot of meaning to him. One of my managers came over, and, seeing what I was working on, said, 'What's this for?'. 'It's a gift for a friend of mine,' I replied, to which he responded with a rude snigger, 'Geez, what a waste of time, wouldn't it be quicker just to photoshop it or something?'. I was totally stunned, and as he abruptly walked away, I was lost for words. At first, I was admittedly a little offended, I have spent hours and hours on this drawing, and to have that kind of reaction towards it felt terrible. Slowly however, as I've thought about it more and more, I've managed to realise something very special (and I don't want to get all mushy here but it will probably come out that way). I realised that I have a gift, just like all of my fellow design and crafty bloggers out there, and the fact that we can find peace, passion, excitement, delight and so many more emotions through the daily processes that make us happy, is super fantastic. Design, art and general hands on craftiness is such a huge part of what my life is about, it is what makes me tick, and I'm sure it is the same for a lot of you out there too. So in the end, I thought, wow, I really do feel sorry for my manager, who obviously cannot see the merit in making/designing/creating something just for the pure wonderful feeling you get from just doing it, and not necessarily needing an outcome. He cannot see that the thought that goes into that sort of thing often means a lot more then the thing itself, and if he cannot measure the success of something, or produce it in a way that proves he has cut down time/costs/energy then it's not worth doing. What a dull, uninspiring life that must be! I feel so blessed to have my artistic talents, and you all should too. Not everyone has the ability to create the things we do, or appreciate the things we do. But we all know how great it is, so let's be thankful, and long may it continue!