“If it’s not fun, I don’t want to do it.” –
Artist’s statement from Neal Howard, weaver
Seems like everywhere I go I can find a bead shop or a yarn shop.
Last year, I was on a road trip with two of my best friends. It was my turn to drive the car. I had been driving only about 10 minutes when I announced that it was time for us to pull over at the next exit.
“You just started driving!” they protested.
I convinced them we needed to pull over anyway. Turns out there was a Joann’s store at the next exit that was having a 60 percent off sale on beads.
There we were in the middle of nowhere, and I could find not only a bead shop but a bead shop that was having a sale. That’s what I call psychic bead shopping!
I am very good with my money except for when I am visiting bead or yarn purveyors. All of a sudden I can come up with plenty of excuses about why I need more beads or yarn.
I have an entire cabinet at home just for my jewelry supplies. All my beads are organized by color. I think of the person I want to make something for, tune in and pick their color. Then I open up my cabinet and pull out my box of treasures.
Recently, when I was visiting Asheville, North Carolina, I stumbled upon some hand-dyed yarn from the weaver Neal Howard of the Carolina smokies.
Of course, it was very hard to decide which color to get. I fumbled over whether to go for green, but ended up choosing turquoise with strands of violet and cerulean blue. I got enough yarn to make a large shawl to wear in my yoga class.
The thing about making large projects like a shawl is that they take awhile to complete.
You have to really love the materials and what you are actually doing in order to keep going.
As I knitted, I realized that I love the yarn so much – I mean who wouldn’t enjoy touching a chunky blend of mohair, silk, wool and nylon – I looked up the website of the lady who created the yarn and found her artist’s statement.
“If it’s not fun, I don’t want to do it.”
I realized that Neal Howard and I have a lot in common.
Not only do I like good yarn, I believe it is crucial to have fun.
In fact, I believe in fun so much it is part of the three rules I created long ago for my business.
Here are the three rules for my business:
Everything I do must be of total integrity. That means I am always looking for the best, highest integrity methods, thought processes and products.
Everything I do must be good for me and good for my clients. Win-win. It’s not good for me to over work, for example, therefore it isn’t good for my clients, who don’t deserve a warmed over, propped up version of myself when they come for a session.
Everything I do must be fun.
Why is fun so important?
If you are having fun, you will do something, and you will probably do it regularly. If you do it regularly, you might actually even become quite good at it. And the more fun you have doing it consistently, you could even hang out long enough to become an expert, as it takes 10,000 hours (10 years) to become a master at anything.
For example, if you have fun when you exercise, you will probably keep it up. If it is painful or drudgery, forget about it. Maybe you can eek out one session, but that will be it.
I also believe that if everybody is having fun, then I and everybody I am working with can soak in the highest vibration. That means true healing, as all true healing happens in a state of love and joy.
I have mastered many methods, but when I stopped having fun doing those things, I gave myself permission to move on.
For example, I taught Brain Gym classes for many years. I was at a Brain Gym convention in Toronto, Canada, when I met my mentor in healing, Sue Maes. Many good things came to me from Brain Gym. But when other activities began to be more fun for me, I gave myself the go ahead to evolve.
I have completed enough of my shawl to keep my lap warm while I knit. Fortunately for me it is a pure delight just to hold the yarn.
