What to Do When You Are asked to Build a White Ditch....
… and there is no window to jump out.
It may seem extreme but it’s a real problem. First try to concentrate on your breathe. Sanyasa. Mindfulness is a way of life. Enrich yourself with the ability to be bigger than the experience that’s taking place. However, if you are unable to concentrate just make sure you are still breathing by checking your pulse.
Make a plan. A way forward works. Measure everything down to the last detail and don’t be alarmed when the bell rings in your head that your white ditch isn’t measuring up to the requirements initially laid out to you. Float in a bubble above it all and observe the chaos as a passive observer.
Have friends in useful places. Having discovered that it is all going horribly wrong horribly fast you’ve gone into sanyasa mode and you’re now floating and observing calmly and considering what to do objectively and calmly. This is when you remember that you know someone that you can pawn the white ditch out to. Someone that has effective equipment and tools. Someone even more objective than you when you are in Sanyasa mode. Incredible furniture maker Leo Norris of Ladybank! As a thinly vieled mask for your ditch pawning scheme, you arrive at the workshop under the guise of building a ‘creepy stool’ (it was just after Halloween).
Approach each moment with a new mind. This part is important. You will need to remember this when your plan falls apart and you realise your mind is too. For example if somehow initially the ditch is not quite a ditch; approach the problem as a lone job. If soon after this the Ditch is the correct ditch but throws all of your measurements off completely; float above this in a calm state of sanyasa approaching the problem pragmatically with a clear mind. Doing this you will find you are much more help to yourself and others around you.
If after this you find that your almost complete work is looking beautiful and you are feeling good- don’t get confident! You may be near the end- but you are not at it! You may be yet to discover that your glass guy has shattered your art glass (and your last ounce of confidence) and Fife has ran out of Glass…
When all else fails suspend above your reality and view it as an observer
If this should happen to you- and I really mean if- (bearing in mind that this is all very hypothetical)- remember to come back to the breath (that we spoke about at the beginning of this text). Using the mindfulness you mastered in step 1- float above the experience for roughly a week, and to your surprise when you return to the reality you will fine that everything is already fitting together quite nicely. BOOM. As they say.
And to your surprise everything has fallen into place and it always was going to turn out fabulous;
So happy with the result with this beautiful pastel by Judith Heald. Framed in a 5cm wide oak frame with a linen mount and indented slip. A fabulous effect. and beautiful offset, the colours in which naturally compliment one another. Delighted that the client was happy with the work also (clearly that is the main thing!) Look out for my next more regular post- how to create a natural linen mount- coming soon!
A pretty straightforward example of a moment it all could have fallen apart.
What is the moral to this story? Challenges are good. And no matter how tough it seems the important part is the satisfaction of completing and overcoming these issues. When you think you are not going to manage and you are overwhelmed by the bad- you probably are and you will be grateful for hanging in there.
And no. This post is not really about a white ditch.
*this blog was sponsored by ‘Alternative Marketing Techniques inc’.