Today, as I was preparing for this weekend’s farmers market, I started feeling totally overwhelmed.
Between getting new items entered into the POS and all the associated activities surrounding that, there is a lot going on. I have to create the product detail cards, make the pricing labels, take a couple of product photos, and then make sure that when I scan a pricing label, the correct item comes up in the system at the correct price.
Perhaps that doesn’t sound like a lot, but I have taken all of those things one step further.
The “detail card” is actually a charred and finished 1/8” thick wooden board with a printed label affixed to it. Afterward, it has to be placed in a press for up to 24 to 48 hours to make sure the label properly adheres to the board.
The pricing labels are not without their challenges either. Each one has a printed barcode label affixed to one side, and on the opposite side I handwrite the price with one of those fancy calligraphy pens.
Typically, none of that is all that big of a deal.
But this week I am also preparing three of my photographic prints to be shown in an exhibition. Last night I discovered that one of the frames I planned to use isn’t allowed for the exhibition, so now I am trying to find a replacement frame.
Like I didn’t already have enough to do this week.
That may sound like I am complaining, but I’m really not.
It is momentary stress from having multiple things going on at the same time. And perhaps the key, and most important thing, is this:
IT IS ALL OF MY OWN MAKING!!
I would take this momentary stress any day over the daily grind I dealt with for the past few decades writing code, managing people, and having someone else define what my “weekly objectives” were.
There have also been some pretty great things happening this week.
I am taking three new items to the market this weekend, and I already have another new item ready for the following weekend. My process for getting everything ready for market is becoming more streamlined.
And then there is a major win: three of my photographic prints are going to be included in an upcoming exhibition, following another print being shown in a previous one.
For several years, the art and online-gallery side of what I do seemed to be going nowhere. Now, almost overnight, that work is receiving public visibility.
That is amazing. And it is a blessing.
I’m sure my journey as a woodcrafter / woodworker is probably somewhat unique. Or perhaps it really isn’t.
But the fact that I am in control of where it goes is a pretty amazing thing.
Even when there are struggles.
And, well...
The struggle is real. For real.