Category Archives: Pithy Point

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Keeping Our Mojo while Pursuing Success

In a world were the pressure for perfection is ever present, the quest for success can overwhelm us, thus causing our creative mojo to get lost somewhere along the journey. This is often the case when we are creating to meet the demand of others, but it can also be the case when we are creating for ourselves. The scale we use to measure success, sadly, is seldom one we create ourselves, thereby placing us at the risk of becoming overwhelmed when our efforts fall short of an unrealistic norm.

As creators, or makers to use another term commonly used in social media, we rely on our creative mojo to keep our inspiration flowing and our ideas vibrant. Our ability to keep creating often relies heavily on our feelings of accomplishment, and therefore how we determine success is instrumental in our ability to create.

In my video today, I ponder the notion of success and the question of whether my latest project is a success. I determine success is achieved when three criteria are met – functionality, structural-soundness, and joy. We are makers not machines. Variables in our creative efforts are part of what makes our product unique and desirable. When we hold onto this knowledge, we can better keep hold of our mojo even as we pursue success.

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This week I have three English Paper Piecing blocks to share.
22-grandmas-broochDownload
23-grandmas-spring-broochDownload
24-flower-basketDownload

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Saith Me: Knowing Truth

The wise speak and quote truth, often universal truth that transcends time or has evolved due to time.

The manipulative misquotes, takes soundbites out of context, and re-writes the words of the wise for the purpose of self-interest.

Those seeking to become wise will spend time evaluating a source for its honesty, clarity, and truth. Those seeking to be led will simply believe that which confirms their desired state of being whether it is truth or falsehood.

Both will believe they have found truth, but only one will know that they have.

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Liberty: Joy and Sorrow

Liberty, even when it allows for the foolishness of mankind to flourish, is better than bondage.

We must be cautious not to forget that personal liberty should not come at the cost of the liberty of another. The wise understands that liberty, responsibility, and compassion are intrinsically intertwined. Without all three, it is easy for liberty to become nothing more than a mask for self-interest, greed, and apathy.  

Once liberty loses its meaning due to the foolishness of mankind, it becomes easier to convince the unwise to give up liberty in hopes of preventing the sorrow generated by foolish behavior.

Rather than rejecting liberty, it is better that we learn to find joy even when surrounded by the sorrow mankind generates through its foolishness. Liberty with foolishness and sorrow will always be better than bondage.  

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Embracing the Good

Embracing the good things of the past does not require for us to embrace the less good things as well. It is possible to cherish the good, and leave the bad as a remnant to gather dust rather than a relic to invite worship.

Learn from History rather than Ingest the Myth

It is not erasing history or rewriting history when we acknowledge that history if full of imperfect people. Nor is it protecting history when we whitewash over the sorrowful things imperfect people did or wrote before better practices and choices were available.

What we should strive not to do is to celebrate the bad as well as the good. We should carefully evaluate what history teaches rather than simply ingest the tale that we call history.

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Saith… The Daughter

Oh the wonderful things my daughter says. We were having a very intense (pleasant, not contentious) discussion on a topic both confounding and current, when she summed up the situation in fabulous fiber artist form.

“It may be called a Cashmere Rabbit, but that doesn’t make it cashmere.”

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Unfollow, restrict, unfriend, block: the value of remaining Facebook friends versus the value of separation.

I keep asking myself about the difference between Facebook and the old fashioned social world were I was always advised to choose my friends wisely. Guilt by association is a real thing in some societal circles.

Do we follow the same rules in a social media world? Do we remain Facebook friends with those we would never want to socialize with in person?

If we ignore behavior on Facebook, or things we find unsavory, are we enabling or validating the people with whom we associate any more or less than we do in the workplace, the school, the store, the neighborhood?

Unfollow, restrict, unfriend, block: the value of remaining FB friends versus the value of separation.

It is something to ponder.

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Mob Violence in a Modern World

Mob violence is never restricted to one side or the other. In the modern world, the town square is often replaced by social media groups. The pitch forks and torches of the past may have been replaced by the written word or photograph, but do not doubt that the modern version of tar and feathers damages individuals and businesses just as much, if not more so than, it did in the past. Looking the other way and hoping the furor will die down does not absolve or protect us from the tragedy when the mob takes action. While we can try to insulate our groups and personal pages from such behavior, we cannot hide from the mob, at least not permanently.

Stars of Valor

 

Article discussing how mob mentality is affecting the quilting world.