Friday, July 20

goal setting for rebellious sorts

The phrase "goal setting" makes me plug my fists into my ears fast, and yell "Nah nah nah nah I can't hear you." It's involuntary, like breathing, or eating cake. I actually use the sentence "It's important to set goals and meet them" regularly - as a running joke.

But I have to get some stuff done. I'm trying to figure out how to stock up for some upcoming shows and stores that want to carry my clothes. Okay, okay, so I know how, but somehow haven't been able to wrap my brain around it. I've gotten used to making a few things at a time and putting them right up on etsy.

So I asked Mr. Lentil for help. He said "Well this sounds stupid, and don't get insulted, but the answer is that you need to make more." How is it possible that THAT helped?

It did. It broke me free, just enough, to make this into a project I can picture, replacing the gelatinous blob of indecision that is so often my brain. Thus I re-learned a forgotten lesson: turning something into a hands-on project is almost always the way to get started. I drew a picture of each category I want to make for shows. Please note: I cannot draw. Plus I typed out the word for each category and laminated each one with packing tape. Then I picked goals for quantities and counted what I have in stock. Now I'm sewing and it all seems manageable and good.

See, I just used "goals" in a sentence and it didn't hurt at all. I almost didn't notice. It was, kind of, fun.

(I like any excuse to use my old typewriter. It's a 1940's Smith Corona silent portable.)

Friday, July 6

form vs. function; the map of a compromise

subtitle: notes from a college dropout who never took an art class.

I took one of those goofy personality quizzes a while ago - this one gives you your own "personal dna" code at the end. I wasn't surprised at how hard it was to make choices, I don't like to be fenced in, even by a stupid survey no one's ever going to see. What struck me was that I was stopped dead in my tracks whenever they asked me questions concerning form versus function. I picked the middle of the scale for each one, so you could think I didn't care, but the truth is I was seriously torn. Each time. They felt like life or death decisions. Apparently I'm hung up on form versus function. Ok, ok, so I learned something from a quiz I called stupid.

This reminds me of a Peter Coyote quote about fashion, of which I am very fond. I know, you don't think of him as a fashion writer. That makes this even better:

The struggle between freedom and form is archaic and common to us all. I can understand now that it is fully expressed in every dimension of human experience, even the design and choice of clothes. Perceiving fashion in this way, links it, in my mind, to the fundamental tension within each of us which constantly impels us toward the impossible option of choosing one and abandoning the other. Today I see that even the choice of color, cut, and texture of clothing is an expression of that struggle, an act, which without denying the validity of the social coding it transmits, can also be read as one possible solution to this tension; the map of a compromise. - Peter Coyote from The Soft Wars
Oh, and I did make another sweater dress. It sold a few hours after I listed it on etsy, yippee. It's called New Mexico or Bust, and looks mildly less fuzzy if you click on it.