Trying not to be a Discouraged Maker this Holiday Season
I’m trying not to be a discouraged maker this holiday season.
I read this blog post from the amazing Danielle at The Merriweather Council about staying sane as a maker during this hectic time of year. It totally resonated with me and I have a feeling that others will relate. Recently I have been comparing myself to the success I see in others and it can really pull the brakes on the momentum I have going on. Instead of focusing on what I have on my plate, I’ve been busy looking at everyone else’s and feeling quite sorry for myself.
I think I have split personality syndrome. On one side I am very creative, messy, and chill. Let’s call her Diana. Diana is fun and spontaneous. She doesn’t stick to a menu plan. She throws caution to the wind and tells the kids to get in the minivan because we’re heading to Chick-fil-A for dinner! Yeah, baby! My other side is organized, on time, and if I’m honest, a little intense. Let’s call her Karen. Karen never ever deviates from the plan. If Tuesdays are for tacos, then tacos will be had! Diana and Karen must not get along well because only one of them is in control of me at any given moment. If Diana is in control then my house looks like an episode right out of Hoarders but I’m happily crocheting amigurumi and can laugh off the chaos. If Karen is in charge then my house is tidy, we are on time and I get shit done.
Diana has definitely been in charge as of late and I have been in a super creative space. But because of that the holidays have snuck up on me and I’m not as prepared for them as I would like to be as a maker. Once I realized that it was only a few short weeks until Christmas, Karen pushed Diana out of the way and said she was taking over.
Karen made a schedule so that the Etsy shop will be in full swing for the holidays. She put the Etsy shop on vacation mode and set the date to reopen on December 7th, plenty of time to ship everything before Christmas.
The problem is that since Diana has been in charge for quite some time now, I’m not as prepared as I wish I could be. I am going to miss out on a big opportunity that presented itself because I couldn’t be ready in time to take part in it. An awesome local antique mall (the largest in the southeast US) contacted me and offered me a table at their holiday Open House. To be able to stock an entire table I would need to have lots of animals and dolls ready made. Their Open House will welcome thousands of visitors from all over. As of writing this blog post I have a whopping total of two finished. You read that right…two. I can only make one to two animals per week and that’s if my tendonitis doesn’t start acting up (You can read more about that here: Saying Goodbye to my Beloved Cotton Yarn) That was a big huge bummer. A big, huge, fat, hairy, wet bummer. Not a nice visual, huh?
I started to feel super down about my own abilities and limitations. Scrolling through Instagram only made me feel worse when I saw how well planned and organized so many other makers seem to be. They have been preparing for the holiday season for months, while Diana has been over here flitting around in her own head!
From the Merriweather Council Blog
“If you feel like seemingly everyone else is killing it this weekend – like everyone else has stacks of packages to ship out, orders out their ears, and everything is going just swell for everyone but you – please know that EVERYONE is on their own track. Everyone has to stay in their lane at their pace and experience their own ups and downs whenever they come. And TRUST ME everyone has downs and ups. Everyone.” – Danielle Spurge
This is exactly how I have been feeling. Everyone else is killing it and here I am picking my nose in the corner. But her quote really resonated with me and allowed me to see that I’m on my own track. This is my first holiday season as a maker as an Etsy shopkeeper. I am currently on track to be able to reopen the shop in early December and I am ok with that. Do I wish I had done more? Yes. Do I wish Karen had been in charge instead of Diana for the past few months? Maybe. Diana is definitely way more fun!
But here I am, the beginning of November, and I’m going to take Danielle’s advice and stay in my lane, quit worrying about how well everyone else seems to be doing, and make some damn cute amigurumi. (Blog post about how you can make amigurumi too:Â You Can Make Amigurumi: A Tale of Two Walters)
Next season I will be more prepared. I will start focusing on the holiday season beginning in the summer or at the latest September. I would love to do some handmade markets and especially the holiday Open House at the antique mall. That will take planning and I will be depending on Karen to get me there. But I’ll make sure Diana is waiting in the wings with a double margarita and a sombrero in hand when I’ve completed my task.
Are you a Diana, a Karen, or both? Or do you have a completely different persona? I would love to hear about it!
I love this blog post ~ it could not come at a better time for me ~ thank you, thank you!!! I too wanted to be more prepared but life is crazy busy and then there is tendinitis!!! How do people crochet so much???????
Wishing you a creative month,
Melissa
Thank you so much! That’s what I’m wondering too! How do they crochet all the time? I must be old!
This was a wonderful post. This is my/our first year on etsy too (warming.the.heart on Instagram). So far, the success has been okay, but we’ve also been doing craft shows for 6 years and have quite and inventory built up. That being said, I have/have had these same exact feelings. I’m definitely not the most organized person. I can be – I love lists, but my house is often a wreck, and my crochet plans all over the place! To top it off, this year I’m very pregnant (due Dec 6), so I can’t do our annual craft show (Dec 1) and I will inevitably have to turn down orders because of new baby, and all that. Your creations are so beautiful, don’t get discouraged! I think your plan with your Etsy store is great (I understand the disappointment of your missed opportunity!).
hahha – crochet all the time. I get like 3 stitches done at a time before the kids need me. Sometimes, an entire row if I’m lucky!
Awww, thanks so much, Becka! I’m so glad others relate!! Good luck on your sweet new baby!! I wasn’t doing anything like this when my kids were little, I wish I had though!
I can absolutely relate to this! Thank you so much for sharing. It’s hard to see other people doing all these amazing things. It always makes me start feeling less than. It’s great advice to just stay in your lane and focus on your own business. I’m trying my best to do that too. I’m sure there are people looking at you and seeing a super successful person too.
Thank you so much, Meghan! I’ve played the comparison game and it never ends well! As much as I love showing all the pretty photos I want to show others that no one has it all together!