I've never been very patient. I knew it was bad when one year my mom gave me, as a gift, a bracelet that had the word PATIENCE spelled out in beads. This Monday I started the first week of the e-course, Make Art That Sells, by Lilla Rogers and Beth Kempton. Just waiting for the class to start was an exercise in patience. It was the first time I looked forward to a Monday in a long time! This week we learned about the Bolt Fabric market. Before we were given our weekly assignment, we were asked to research, sketch and/or paint a subject. I tend to skip or skimp on this step when I am working on a project because I am so excited to jump right into the fun part of actually designing. Because I didn't even know what the assignment was yet, I was forced to spend some quality time focusing on exploring the subject. Because of this, once we were given the assignment, I had a full arsenal of creative weapons at my disposal! To my surprise, it also helped that I work a full time day job, because it forced me to take some time away from my design, reflecting on it and then coming back to it with a fresh pair of eyes. Only being able to work a few hours each day also helped me to be more deliberate and productive. I'm really happy with how my piece turned out and when I reflect on what made it successful, I realize that having patience was a huge part. And now I can apply this to the bigger picture. Lilla encouraged us to realize that our talents are not finite and that we are all continually and constantly improving - no matter where we are on our journey. As someone who had to wear a patience bracelet around for years of her life, this is important advice. I often find that if I can't achieve what I define as success immediately, I feel like a failure. But failure would be not trying at all, because then there would be no improvement. So here I am trying away and I've never felt so good about it!!