Hello, all crafters great and small!
Jul 29, 2009
Bloggers - tlccraftywitches
I wanted to share something with you as it had a big impact on me, and it may help you. Or it may not. Either way, I hope it’s an interesting read!
Quite a few years ago, I wanted to become a photographer. It’s a pretty popular dream when you’re 15, but I thought I could really do it one day!
Mandatory school-arranged work experience time rolled around, and I decide to go to a professional photographer, no surprises there. At this time I was really, really shy ’ I mean, I was terrified of making phone calls or speaking to people I didn’t know, so actually getting any work experience was a miracle.
The photographer, who shall remain nameless, was nice enough. We got on ok, and I did what he asked. But with me being incessantly quiet and giving one word answers, he had to keep chattering on, or there would be 8 hours of uncomfortable silence every day.
I guess one afternoon he got tired of it, and kind of snapped. We were in his car running errands, and as usual we were having a stilted conversation. He asked me what I wanted to do when I left school ’ of course I told him that I wanted to be a professional photographer.
It was then that he gave his sigh ’ the sigh that said ˜I think you’re wrong, and I’m annoyed that I have to tell you’. He told me I shouldn’t become a photographer because I would have to talk to people, and unless I broke out of my shell, I’d never get anywhere in life.
I won’t lie, it hurt a lot. I didn’t understand how someone I barely knew could say such a thing! In one sentence he had torn my dreams to shreds and thrown them out the window of his shiny Porsche (which I managed to scratch with a sheet of glass, haha! But that’s another story).
At the end of my work experience, I left that place feeling dejected and useless. What he had said started to make sense. If I don’t say anything, or people don’t want to talk to me, how will I ever accomplish anything?
At the time I loathed him for it, but now, I’m glad someone told me. I’m still a bit shy, but I’m much better. I actually hold conversations with people! I have a job that requires me to answer phones and interact with customers, and I love it. I love meeting new people, and being put in situations where I have to do it myself.
That guy may have seemed like a jerk, but he spoke truth. It’s a waste of time being shy. But more importantly than that, he made me branch out from photography. I thought he may have been right in saying I couldn’t be a photographer, so I decided to concentrate on crafts I enjoyed, and ones that I had never tried.
So go forth and be free, my lovely fellow crafters! Experiment, express, and be absolutely true to yourself.
Tammy aka Mixymo
Leaky Cauldron Crafty Witch