Sharing

A fellow beader and blogger recently requested that we write a bit about ourselves in our next blog post.  This fits in nicely, as I do not have pictures yet of my Cynthia Rutledge pieces.  It's also nice to get to know one another and she shared a very personal story to get us started.   However, I didn't realize how difficult this would be until I finally acknowledge, beading is who I am.  Just like my daughter was at one time, my job another, and college at yet another phase.  It's not the only thing, of course, but I tend to be consumed by what has my focus at the moment.  I'm very much a gemini in the sense that there are two distinct aspects of my personality.  There's the side that's focused and relentless in pursuit of a goal, and there's my flakey side that lives in a sea of chaos and clutter.  What focuses me, also grounds me.  It's typically when I'm most relaxed and in tune with myself, nothing else intrudes.

It's why I love to cook when I'm entertaining.  It's a focused task that appeals to my creativity and has an ending with the cleanup.  My mind is totally engaged on the task at hand.  It's also why I fail so miserably at the day to day family cooking.  It doesn't seem to engage my mind the same way and I'm flitting around looking for something else to do when I should be focusing on the weekly menu.

As a financial analyst, I worked in a sea of clutter and I'd thrive after 5:00 p.m. when everyone else was leaving for the day.  I couldn't put down the puzzle I was pursuing and often it would be 10:00 p.m. and I'd still be at work.  Not because I had to, but because I was so engaged in what I was doing.  Beading has filled the gap that work once filled.  However, it is something I can put aside easily when I need to turn my focus back upon my daughter.  I'm not sure if I could have turned off work and not been left frustrated.  These days, the computer is slowly supplanting beading.  I find I can't keep away from it and I may have to rationed it the same way I ration my daughter's time on the computer.

The picture above is with my very handsome husband Scott who puts up with me.  If you look at my about me section, you'll see a picture of me with my daughter.  She's a beautiful combination of us both.