Of the ten tasks suggested for Week 7, I found only #10 to be very useful. I've never made a collage before, so it was a nice creative kick--lots of fun. Most of my old mags are home dec publications, so I had a narrow choice for autobiographical images. But house and home are so central to my personality that I guess it's fitting that much of the collage refers to that subject. I've often thought I should just settle into doing Freddy Moran house quilts! I enjoyed this task so much I may do one again.
Jealousy is an emotion I find totally repugnant. It reveals insecurity, mean pettiness and stinginess, as well as unkindness. I cannot imagine not sharing in another's joy or accomplishment. It creates pain for all concerned, and I just don't engage in it.
Perfectionism IS a bugaboo for me, and I totally agree with Julia that "[p]erfectionism is a refusal to let yourself move ahead." The need to get it right can absolutely immobilize one and crush creativity. It's tough to skate between obsessive perfection and precision. Precision IS necessary in traditional quiltmaking and I just try to be aware of the perfectionism trap.
Risk is not an issue for me, as I've never shied away out of fear or intimidation, from anything that interested me. Time continues to be my obstacle, and from the brief glance I've had at Chapter 8, maybe the risks I will soon be taking are demands for more time for myself.
Maybe it was holiday-lag that kept me from really embracing Week 7, but it didn't do much for me. Chapter 8 looks very interesting though.
11 comments:
I want to come live in your collage -- it's great!
Okay, Sophie, there's room for both of us. And you can teach me to knit!
I agree with you about jealousy. It is completely foreign to me. Oh, I joke sometimes, someone gets a new car and I say, "OOh, I'm so jealous!" But honestly I don't know what real jealousy feels like. Now dogs--dogs can do jealousy, and in a big way. We were dog-sitting last week for our neighbors. Our dog, mister tough-guy top-dog of the house, would get jealous when you would pet the guest dog or let her sit in your lap. Talk about being territorial. It was hilarious to see this doggie emotion played out.
Love your collage...I loved doing the collage too - it was a really fun task...probably the MOST FUN so far, IMNSHO. I would do it again too!! (in fact, I am on the lookout for more pictures where-ever I can find them!)
I disagree that traditional quiltmaking has to be precise. What about those antique quilts? Not all of them had precise points. I think that is a trap we modern gals have placed on ourselves. While I think the antique quiltmakers strove for perfection, I don't think they achieved it any more than we do now.
If anything, the contemporary quilts require more precision--why else would everyone be clamouring for paper piecing--even the big names use paper piecing, like Caryl Bryer Fallert, for their complex designs to "work out".
Absolutely, Suze (re: being too pooped to be creative, but being more aware and productive when I have time and energy). If jealousy ever rears its ugly head with me, it's envy of other peoples' free time. That's the ONE thing you can't buy more of.
The yarn shop experience was sort of strange. I was in retail for a lot of years and she had the worst sales skills I've seen since I was in Best Buy (.... and Golf Galaxy .... and Circuit City--oh, heck, most anywhere you go these days!). It's a new shop and I gotta wish her luck 'cause I don't think she's going to make it any other way.
Debra said:
"I think that is a trap we modern gals have placed on ourselves. While I think the antique quiltmakers strove for perfection, I don't think they achieved it any more than we do now."
I call that the Martha Stewart Syndrome. I really dislike the perfectionist message she gives to young women (she's no threat to old broads like me). Young women expect so much of themselves today, and I wonder if Martha's psychotic "homemaking" lessons [it's a business, girls] set them up for inevitable feelings of inadequacy. I like most of what Martha does but I'm seasoned enough to put it in perspective, and I worry about the tentative young mom and the unsure newlywed who see Martha's perfect world and then see their own as not good enough.
Again, context: the antique quiltmakers had scissors, cardboard, and scraps, and occasionally machines. Perfection would have been a whole lot harder to achieve. Now we have the tools to be precise, more easily, plus fabulous equipment and supplies, so it's easier to fall into the perfectionist trap.
Quilting has taught me I have the patience to rip out and redo, something I didn't know I had. But the satisfaction I have in "doing it right" tells me I'm not letting perfectionism take over. Perfectionism equals paralysis to me, and I try to steer clear of it.
I guess I have a different take on the meaning of jealousy. I just think it means seeing in someone else what you might like to achieve for yourself. For example, I love my sister's new kitchen countertops. I would love to have the same in my new kitchen, so I will work to achieve that goal. I don't think that is mean and petty. I just think it is a different way to find your dreams. Maybe I am defining jealousy incorrectly.
There's nothing "incorrect" about your definition. That's more what I would call envy, and sometimes that encourages aspiration.
I have a couple of step-family members and a friend whom I've heard say re: someone's good fortune, "It's not FAIR! I should get that, not THEM." The old friend is highly competitive and consequently has two daughters who are highly competitive with their peers and each other (they compete to see who can wear the smallest dress size--any wonder they're anorexic?). My friend was downright unkind to me before and after the birth of my first grandbaby--I believe because she was jealous that her daughter was having difficulty conceiving. I think she's a wee bit irritable NOW because I'm expecting my second and her daughter has been obsessively trying to conceive a second, and hasn't yet been successful. Being unable to be happy for someone else's good fortune is jealousy to me. You love your sister's new countertops, but I bet you don't begrudge her having them.
And irrational jealousy in a marriage is poison--more destructive than you can imagine.
They may be home dec cutouts, but I see that Ghiradelli chocolate hiding in that collage!!
Busted!!
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