Beginnings

"All beginnings are hard".  I had a professor in college who began the first day of his class with that statement.  There is so much truth to that statement that it has stuck with me through the 20 some odd years since I first heard him make that statement.  He went on to emphasize the point that it might be hard in the beginning, but if you stick with it, it will eventually get easier.  It doesn't matter what area of life it is.  A new class, a new job, a change in life circumstances, learning a new skill, whatever it is, this statement holds true.  I often remind myself of this.

I am in sort of a season of new beginnings in life right now.  Some of them are welcomed, some are by life circumstance alone.  My husband is in the beginning stages of learning a new job.   While a welcome change, it isn't without the challenges of learning new things and being brought up to speed on new procedures and all of those things that go a long with a new job.  For me it is the challenge of getting up and going to work everyday when his new job allows him to work out of our home.  Even though I know he is "at work" and that he is working hard.  I can foresee the potential that I have to become jealous.  Especially when the weather turns cold this winter and I have to deal with driving to and from work in the snow, which is one of my least favorite things on Earth.   Still not sure how I wound up in Minnesota... LOL. So it will be an adjustment for me, as well.  All beginnings are hard.  

I have also been thinking about the beginning days of my sewing.  My mother taught me to sew when I was in junior high.  My first project was a pair of gray corduroy shorts (who remembers corduroy walking shorts being popular in the early 80's?).  I never finished them.  I had them completely constructed, including the zipper and for some reason I was afraid that I would "mess them up" by putting the waist band on.  LOL.  I now realize how silly that was and really wish that I had finished them. All beginnings are hard.

It has also caused me to think about the beginnings of The Merry Church Mouse and those first few experiments.  Like this one which was one of my first experiments with mixing prints.  I made these Easter dresses for my nieces back in about 1994.

Mixing fabrics is now one of my favorite things to do, but I remember shopping for these fabrics and finding it very challenging.  In the end I think it worked out,  but at that point I didn't really know where to start.  All beginnings are hard.  

I think about the unfinished seams in my early pieces and how I was a bit afraid to learn how to use a serger.  How in the world do you adjust the tension on 4 threads, let alone learn how to thread the thing in the first place?  All beginnings are hard.  Now, I don't know what I'd do without my serger.   My garments are much better for having learned to use it.  

Right now I am in a place where I want to begin anew rethinking this blog.  I have, it seems, been really floundering the last few years to sort of find my niche in the blog world and in the sewing world in general.  I think I really have yet to find my stride, which seems weird to say since I have been doing this for so many years.    I am hoping to participate in some new things and try some new ideas, and I hope that you will join me.  But I know... All beginnings are hard.  

So yes, all beginnings are indeed hard, but I also know that the work is worth the payoff.  What about you?  What new challenges are you facing in life or in your creative efforts?  Together, maybe we can help each other through the hard stuff and into the good stuff. :)