I’ve been hammering and shaping copper. Letter by letter I put words on the copper that might inspire or remind. My sister calls them cue words.
The first bracelet I tried making I stamped “practice” in both directions. Yes, it was a practice bracelet but also I wanted to remind myself to keep practicing. – practicing my making of things and my writing.
I now have several bracelets “almost made”. I want to finish the shaping of them and need to add the closing links. I don’t know if I “like” them though. I want the metal to be flawless and smooth. I want the shape and fit to be perfect.
These are dangerous thoughts. Perfection, by it’s very nature, is unobtainable. Focusing on every little flaw is defeating. I have to go back to the place in me that caused me to make these bracelets in the first place – the desire to create and to share my voice.
My bracelets are not new. They are not some new innovative design. So why do I bother? I think it is because I like them. 🙂 I enjoy the process of creating them and so, somehow my heart goes into them. I believe in them. Ok, that sounds a bit sentimental and maybe even flakey. What I’m trying to say is when I make a bracelet, my whole self goes into it. And as that happens, I forget my self.
The act of creation is not something I have to do, it is something I want to do, something I desire. The process is not always easy – there is a most definite learning curve involved – but ultimately creating a bracelet is not only a source of pleasure but is a poem. Word by word I hammer and shape it, like all my poems and stories. Word by word, I breathe in, I breathe out. Word by word I move in to my self and out of my self.
