Squeezing my day

Like a freshly picked orange, I am usually up and ready to see how much I can squeeze out of my day first thing in the morning.

In my effort to become at least a passable potter, I have to throw, and throw and throw, which I love mind you, but the thought occured to me the other day when I was talking to a friend - this whole 'work for yourself' thing is not without pitfalls.

"GOING" to work is one thing, you go there, you might snivel and stick your foot in the sand sometimes, you might even grumble, but at the end of the pay period, you collect your check and you don't give a second thought of how exactly that company pays you as long as it's a cashable check. So you don't really have to LOVE it, you don't even have to like it, and you might even grumble, or maybe even be considered company subversive - but in any case, they paid you, you can buy pizza, maybe a movie ticket - call it a day.

But Hoe-Dee-DO......working for yourself - WHOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLEE other story. You can't swipe aspirin from yourself, you'd surely better not bitch about yourself to your(self) boss, and you can't go napping in the break room either because you might have to fire yourself. There is no pocketing of pens, no pilfering of paper clips, and there will be no excessive copies being made on company time. Nope, no perks here.

However - working for myself does have it's perks .... I roll out of bed, stick my hair up in a paint brush, tie an apron and head out to ponder 25 lbs of clay and what can I get out of it. Who can SAY that? Not many. So by 7:30 - 8 a.m. I'm up to my elbows (most days) in mud, well clay, but mud sounded more earthy, and maybe I've even gotten a few pots out of the deal before I break to make my husband breakfast.

That's the good part. The part I love. The part for which I drag myself out of bed.

But then there's the part when I grab a cup of coffee, that I have to do, like check email and try not to be distracted by all the new male enhancement products, how to go to school for a $100,000 a year job without it costing me anything, and ooo ooo baby, I want to be your friend, ads that I need to delete before I find out if I've gotten any orders for my pottery.

Back outside, a bisque load comes out of the kiln most days (because it's so tiny) and then I'm scrambling for inspiration before starting to paint. I don't know why but I get really intimidated by the blank pot. Some get intimidated by the blank sheet of paper or the blank screen, if they're writers. "Poo," I say.........I can talk forever, I'll talk for days, and I may even stay on topic, but putting color on a blank pot can be scary. You don't know what you're going to get to begin with and if it turns out ugly you have to do it again, otherwise you've just wasted your canvas, so to speak.

Phone calls, answering email, packaging orders, double checking to see if the product is paid for, printing out labels, working on new items, thinking of new items, writing descriptions, feeding my family, PLUS trying to complete a product so that maybe, with luck you have several so you actually have a 'product line'........so, all this to say - Do not underestimate having a job!

Hopefully this didn't sound too random...... I'm on my way to becoming who I've dreamed of being.

Thanks for listening.

Kate