Five quotes: Action

A nod,
a bow,
and a tip of the lid
to the person
who coulda
and shoulda
and did. 

Robert Brault, 'A Poem Missing the Word Woulda'. www.robertbrault.com

Men expect too much, do too little. 

Allen Tate.

I believe half the unhappiness in life comes from people being afraid to go straight at things.  

William J. Lock.

Action will remove the doubts that theory cannot solve. 
Tehyi Hsieh.

Carpe diem! 

(Seize the day!) 

Horace. 

Before long, this year will have become last year. If you have plans, enact them now.
Happy new year, everyone.

With thanks to The Quote Garden.

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Wikipedia

"Knowledge is power." 

– Sir Francis Bacon, Meditationes Sacræ. De Hæresibus. (1597)
English author, courtier, & philosopher (1561 - 1626)

Like many people, I use Wikipedia frequently for innumerable things. I often use it when I need instant information on various stones or materials that I use in my jewellery, which means that Wikipedia helps me to earn a living. With that in mind, I made a donation to the Wikimedia Foundation this year during their annual appeal. It wasn't much, but it's a start. Below is the thank-you E-mail I received in response.

_______

Dear Emma,

Thank you for your gift [...] to the Wikimedia Foundation, received on December 8, 2010. I’m very grateful for your support.

Your donation celebrates everything Wikipedia and its sister sites stand for: the power of information to help people live better lives, and the importance of sharing, freedom, learning and discovery. Thank you so much for helping to keep these projects freely available for their more than 400 million monthly readers around the world.

Your money supports technology and people. The Wikimedia Foundation develops and improves the technology behind Wikipedia and nine other projects, and sustains the infrastructure that keeps them up and running. The Foundation has a staff of about fifty, which provides technical, administrative, legal and outreach support for the global community of volunteers who write and edit Wikipedia.

Many people love Wikipedia, but a surprising number don't know it's run by a non-profit. Please help us spread the word by telling a few of your friends.

And again, thank you for supporting free knowledge.

Sincerely Yours,

Sue Gardner

Executive Director

_______

I am immensely grateful to the people who created Wikipedia, and who run, edit, and support it. To me, Wikipedia represents everything that the Internet should be about: 'sharing, freedom, learning and discovery'. The existence of Wikipedia alone justifies the invention of the Internet. It may not be perfect, but for the first time in human history we have a way of sharing reliable information about anything which is freely available to anyone.
Knowledge is power, and Wikipedia offers free knowledge. No strings attached.
I don't think the value of that can be overestimated.

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Ignorance is power

Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. 

- Doug Larson 

When I first started trying to make a living as a self-employed jewellery artist, I knew nothing. 

In the following three years, I learned how much I did not know. 

I am now slightly horrified at how ignorant I was, and how little research I did. 

I am also immensely grateful.

If I had known how hard it would be, I might not have done it.

First Light Over Glacier Bay by thechadandhope on Etsy

 The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible ... and achieve it, generation after generation.
- Pearl S. Buck 

(With thanks to @grapechick for tweeting the Doug Larson quote.)   

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When you feel like giving up ...

When you feel like giving up, 

remember why you held on for so long in the first place. 

(Source unknown.) 

With thanks to @motivationlive for tweeting this.

Here's a link to Chris Guillebeau's excellent blog post 'Ever Feel Like Giving Up?'

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The Power Of Not Giving Up

To every artist, entrepreneur or blogger who has ever struggled; who has ever experienced poverty; who has ever wept with frustration and desperation over their career; who has ever heard the words, 'You're crazy - you can't do it - it's impossible - give up before you go bankrupt - you're an embarrassment - grow up and get a real job' ...

I offer this blog post by the one, the only, the formidable Naomi Dunford.

Have the tissues handy. 

The Power Of Not Giving Up - One Blogger's Story

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The Journey to Ithaca (read it slowly)

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.

Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.

Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never
set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor,
Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become,
with so much experience,
you must already have understood
what Ithacas mean.

- Constantine P. Cavafy (1911)

With thanks to Chris Guillebeau for quoting this on his blog.

Peace be all your journeys.

Going too far?

Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

- T.S. Eliot.

An Old Chinese Proverb

I am completely enamoured a fan of Chris Guillebeau's 'The Art Of Non-Conformity' blog. The guy makes more sense in two sentences than most people make all day.

Recently I finished reading his e-book '279 Days To Overnight Success'. Specifically, it's about making a living as a professional blogger, but, like most of Guillebeau's writing, it is also about doing anything that people say cannot be done.
At the end of the e-book, he concludes with this old Chinese proverb:

the person who says

something is impossible

should not interrupt the

person who is doing it.

Long live those of us who believe in doing the impossible. 

Perseverance: the new black.

Annie is the jewellery maker of Ferosh Kitty Designs. Recently, she was Zibbet.com's Featured Zibbeter. On reading her interview, a particular sentence caught my eye: "And I’m a believer that perseverance is the new black!"

I love black.
Black is only one colour (in fact technically it's not a colour; it's the absence of light and therefore the absence of colour); it doesn't have shades or tints the way green and blue and other colours do; yet it can be dangerous, formal, mysterious, intimidating, enigmatic, aggressive, clean, precise ... think black cats, ninjas, hit men, top hats, limousines, formal calligraphy, the night sky ...
Black does not compromise. You can't negotiate with it. It is what it is, and if you want a lighter or darker tone then you're just going to have to look elsewhere. Black just is. When all other colours have faded away, all that will be left will be black.
(Literally.)
'Perseverance is the new black'. I like the nod to fashion there. It seems appropriate for artists to talk about perseverance in visual terms. 

Perseverance is a common trait of those who change the world. Research Thomas Edison, Sir Edmund Hillary, Marie Curie, or any other important person, and the chances are high that perseverance was the key to their achievement.

As Calvin Coolidge famously said, 

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

(If, like me, you love quotes, here is an excellent trove of perseverance quotes. You're welcome. :-D)

Perseverance is the new black.

When all other skills and abilities have faded away, perseverance will still be there.
If you want to achieve something great, perseverance is not just the new black: it's the one and only black.

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
- Epictetus.

Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher. (His life was quite interesting - here's a link to the Wikipedia page about him).
I could write pages about the dozens of ideas in this simple sentence of his, but I think it's better if great words are left to stand alone sometimes.

The Whole Point Of This Blog

Welcome.
Welcome to me, and to you. Welcome to my blog. I’ve spent several weeks fussing with the layout and trying to decide exactly what I want this blog to be about. (Perfectionism is a pain sometimes! It makes it hard to get anything done.) I've decided that there are three things I want to do with this blog.

Like many artists, I am trudging/fumbling/charging my way through the world in an attempt to have it all: the satisfaction of doing what I love, and enough money to live the lifestyle I want. It doesn’t seem that much to ask, but if you are an artist then you will know that sometimes the whole world seems to want to prove right the people who told you that you could never have both your art and enough money to live without having to sell any limbs. This blog is aimed primarily at artists who, like me, are trying to make a living from their art.
In effect, I will be sharing three things.

1. The resources that I have found helpful, and my own experiences that have taught me something. (But I'll be leaving out the really embarassing bits. 'Cause that's best.)

2. A window on my work, because it is the centre of my aforementioned plot to make a living, and the work of other artists, because I find others' work to be very inspiring. I have found it very encouraging to meet, through the mighty and vast Interwebs (yes, I do speak lolspeak occasionally), other ‘handmade people’ who are trying to do what I’m doing.

3. The wisdom of others. We rely too little on the wisdom of those who have been there, done that, thought about it, and come to a helpful conclusion. “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” (Eleanor Roosevelt.)

So that is what this blog is all about: learning from others, and listening to yourself, while you plot to take over the world chase your dream.
Thanks for joining me. I hope it turns out to be worth your while.
(And mine, come to think of it.)