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Musings of Your Webmistress

4/10/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
As I walked around the various rooms of Spring Fling, I listened to countless women respond to others admiring their work. It didn't matter if it was a block, a basket, or a completed quilt. There was some commonality of response....
        "Oh I worked hard, but look at these points they don't match"
        "One day I'll finish"
        "It's just a kit, I didn't design it."
        "Did you see soandso's  her's is amazing"
        "I'll never be the quilter ______ is."
        "I have too many UFO's."
        "This part is a mess, I should just rip the whole thing out and start again"

I was thinking about these comments and their commonality....judging ourselves, making ourselves wrong and an inability to take pride in our work.

According to Wikipedia....Pride is an inwardly directed emotion that carries two meanings. With a negative connotation pride refers to a foolishly and irrationally inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments, used synonymously with hubris. With a positive connotation, pride refers to a satisfied sense of attachment toward one's own or another's choices and actions, or toward a whole group of people, and is a product of praise, independent self-reflection, and a fulfilled feeling of belonging.

Let's read that last part again....pride refers to a satisfied sense of attachment toward one's own or another's choices and actions, or toward a whole group of people, and is a product of praise, independent self-reflection, and a fulfilled feeling of belonging. WHEN DID THIS BECOME SOMETHING WE CAN'T DO???

I know there are a slew of verses and quotes negatively describing pride. But what a lesson we could teach each other and our children if we could graciously receive positive feedback without having to clarify negatively. What if when someone praises our work we could say "Thanks, I appreciate the positive feedback! I feel great about this piece."

Maybe the real problem is struggling for perfection....forget about it. Perfection is impossible. Enjoy the process, make art and express yourself with fabric for the pure joy of it. Don't finish? No big deal. Finish? Terrific Do one project at a time? Great! Have 25 UFO's? Fun, a lot of variety!!

Quilters...celebrate yourself, your blocks, your quilts, your journey. Celebrate each other with grace. Make quilts and give up the need for perfection.
Just one person's thoughts....Your Webmistress, Diana Behling





2 Comments
Karan Fisher link
4/10/2016 12:47:13 pm

I just read your last post, Diana, and I thank you for your encouraging words. Sometimes I think we all suffer from being over critical of ourselves and are the harshest of judges on our achievements. I had a blast at Spring Fling.....it had been a long time since I was able to attend a Spring Fling and I totally enjoyed my Wrapped Fabric Bowls class taught by Karin McElvein. I even got one bowl completed and another one started. But, mostly I just enjoyed the fellowship of the day and being able to see so many friends I hadn't seen in a long time and to make some new ones. We are fortunate to have almost 400 guild members, so by attending Spring Fling or a TQG sponsored workshop I get the opportunity to meet our members in a smaller setting. TQG is a very important staple in my life and I would be so empty without this terrific social and educational organization. Thank you to Nancy Long and all the Spring Fling committee members who really gave us a fun, fun, fun day! Thank you, Karan Fisher

Reply
Bunnie Cleland link
6/28/2016 08:24:02 pm

I agree we sometimes tend to belittle our own efforts and achievements in an attempt to be humble.
Thank you very much for your post.

Reply



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