J...
Job.
J was a hard one, I will admit. What that started with J could I be truly happy with? Jello? When I was pregnant with the boys, that would have been accurate. I can't tell you the amount of jello that I consumed that summer. Watermelon was another thing that I needed. And yes, I do mean NEEDED. Pregnant woman craving watermelon? Don't get between me and the fridge! Bill has a Polaroid somewhere that is of me with a huge belly in front of a plate heaped with watermelon rinds. I am laughing because he has just said something about me giving birth to a watermelon. Someday I will get a scan of the last picture that was taken of me while I was pregnant with the twins. It is truly a sight to behold.
Juice? No, that would be Nicole's happiness.
J-clothes? What! ME!?! Clean? Nope!
You see my problem?
But I digress.
Christine was saying that she needed to get away from her warp and I mentioned my 3X rule. It was something that I learned while in school. Basically it is that if you make three mistakes within a short period of time, then it is time for a break. That brought me to discuss a few other things that I learned while at school and.... well, here is what I had to say to her....
I started the 3X rule when I was in school. After many tears over messed up warps, I finally came to the realization that if I had made three mistakes in a short period of time, I was probably tired (small wonder) and I needed to take a break. Back then, it was usually only enough time to go find some other student in similar circumstances, ie. stressed (not hard back then) and ask if they wanted to go for a break. Some times it was a smoke break (bad habit long since abandoned) and sometimes it was just for something out of the junk machine and a moaning session. I never realized how much I learned back then. You know that you are learning about weave structures, and colour theory, and the elements of design, but I never realized how much it is important to have a group of creative people to listen to your ideas, or take a break with. I never knew that I was learning work habits that would carry me through school and into my weaving "career". And I didn't realize it until I went back to the craft school as an employee. Sadly my full time student days were over but I am still able to take classes at no cost (talk about a perk) and I am able to interact with creative people every day.
I love being around the students, and I love being around the staff. It is wonderful to have two separate groups to observe and interact with. I know that there are some people who feel that the atmosphere is toxic,(and I know why and agree) but seeing as I am a lowly, but much loved, studio technician, most of the toxicity passes me by and I just get to deal with the good stuff, like helping students and learning from both them and my colleagues.
So, for me happiness is my job. Even though (or maybe especially though) I am on summer vacation now and don't see most of the people that I work with. A break is always a nice thing! I love and respect all of you. And you know who you are!
I also have to add that getting a regular paycheck is also a really nice thing. But you already knew that, didn't you?
4 comments:
I envy you your job! It's the kind of thing I wish I could do.
I think your 3x rule is excellent. I know it saves a lot of frustration in the long run.
J would have been my hubby: Johnny and my son Jevan! Love the watermelon story, it's much healthier than buying out the store of Score chocolate bars (okay I admit that was me!) but we have a pretty small grocery store!
Yep - I so understand what you're getting at with the pro's and con's of being in an educational environment ... which is why I'm going back, but to a school in another country!
We had dinner with some professors of ours (one of whom wrote me a recommendation to my upcoming program of study). We realized, sitting there, that we will never come back to teach at that school - simply because we know so much about the politics and background that we couldn't avoid it.
But being in that educational atmosphere is addictive. I'm surprised that we managed to stay out of school this long (3 years)!
The woman who started me weaving left the workshop where she was working and started her own business and I think it was partly due to toxic politics. When I started weaving there it was fun place to be and the staff were fantastic. But then all of the good people started to leave because of the conflicts.
I remember they left, I would make an effort to go into the workshop/store and support them but the new staff were horrible and the workshop association members were just so divided amongst themselves and made no effort to hide it to the public. It was so sad. I've completely stopped going there because the place has gone to pot and is not worth my time to get over there.
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