DO HARD THINGS

The creative practice is often plagued by fears. Fear of failure, of imperfection, of not liking what we’ll create. Over the past year, I’ve been trying to let go of my fears and create with joy, unworried about the outcome. But the truth is, the fear of failure still gets to me sometimes, stopping me from even trying in the first place. And that was almost true for this project.

I’ve been working on revamping my miniature study kit into Fergus the Fox’s library in the Meraki Meadow. Spray-painting the shelving to fit the color scheme, replacing the pictures for the frames with illustrations of my own, distressing the materials and adding overgrown plant-life. So much love has gone into this project, and I wrestled with adding another element: a clay sculpture of Fergus. I’ve never attempted clay animals before, and felt MASSIVELY underqualified to even try. Would I waste hours and hours on a throw-away piece? Would a failed attempt kill all my confidence to ever try again?

But I’ve learned something over the past year. One of the most important keys to true growth is doing hard things. The things that scare you and excite you at the same time. The things that sound unachievable. The things that you can’t stop dreaming about. Because you’ll never know if you CAN unless you TRY.

So I tried.

I got out my clay and my tools and got to work. It was VERY rough at the start. I sculpted each piece and let them dry, feeling like it might be a lost cause. I smoothed down the rough patches with my clay files (which is incredibly therapeutic, lemme’ tell ya’), and felt a bit better about the direction I was heading. I primed the pieces and prepared myself to paint.

Is it perfect? Nope. Nothing I make is ever perfect, and that’s alright. But I can honestly say I am so, so happy with how Fergus turned out! I think he’s cute even with all the quirks and rough edges, and most importantly, I had so much fun bringing him to life. Perhaps I’ll sculpt more of the Meraki Meadow characters in the future…

Anyhoo, I hope this little newsletter gave you a bit of inspiration to do hard things of your own. To take a leap of faith and give that new idea a shot! And if you need a bit more encouragement in facing your creative fears, this video’s for you 😊