I’m starting now.
Every week—almost every day—I’ve worked on something creative that brings me closer to my goal. Even though I feel like I have a long way to go before I feel confident in my skills to get to where I need to be, I have to start somewhere.
My goal is to make the thing I can see in my mind but can’t yet put onto paper. Hasn’t everyone experienced that at some point in their lives? Our brains are often more creative and imaginative than our hands or eyes. We envision things that don’t yet exist, and bringing those visions into reality takes effort.
Many of us wish our ideas would just appear.
It’s like Harold and the Purple Crayon.
But unfortunately, many of us fail to bring our thoughts and visions into the real world. And honestly, I’ve had enough failure.
There’s this particular idea in my head that’s been stewing for a while. Time and time again, I get inspired to bring it to life. I collect materials, I gather inspiration, I develop an idea—and then I fail to execute it, maybe because I don’t have the developed skill set, but mostly because I’m afraid of failing, so I preemptively fail. I can't fail if I don't pursue.
Well, now I no longer have that excuse. I’m holding myself accountable.
I have space, I have the materials, I have the ideas, and I have a bit of knowledge—at least more than I had a year ago, and the year before that—to begin. But really, it’s more than that.
I no longer care about failing. I can’t fail. All I can do is try—again and again—to make lots of bad little creations.
My vision looks something like this:
Clothes, but not clothes. Wearable artwork. Wearing my own art—clothes that suit me, that feel like me, that don’t look like everything else. Handmade, unique, imperfect, fun, whimsical, but still glamorous and beautiful in form. Made from natural or repurposed materials, wherever possible. Crafted slowly, with care. Not made to be thrown away with the next trend, but to be cherished—because I made them, for me, and they express something within me.
I’ll experiment with the skills that inspire me and support this vision. I want to develop my sewing skills, learn proper pattern-making, explore free-motion embroidery, natural textile dyeing, fabric printing, upcycling old clothes, mark-making, tailoring, and other textile-focused techniques.
Over the next little while (and honestly, I’d love to set a time frame—but creating is always about learning), I’m going to develop these skills, bit by bit, and make some dreadfully crappy things along the way.
Eventually, I’ll get there. One day, I’ll be able to make that thing—that idea, that vision—that’s been stuck in my head.