Time Out!

It is a perfect spring day - sunny with a touch of warmth to the breeze. The birds are singing, the flowers and trees are finally budding. It is a perfect spring day. Finally. And, I had to put myself in time out. What?!? Sometimes, when you're just not willing to listen, when you blame everyone else, refusing to own up to your bad decisions, the only option is Time Out. It started with the ego. It always starts with the ego. I wedged about 15 pounds of reconstituted clay yesterday, and did not take the time to wire it into more manageable, smaller pieces. The largest was probably close to ten pounds. I have never successfully thrown more than a couple of pounds. But newly sprung confidence bubbled up inside me and I decided I was going to go BIG. It pulled fine. Collared a little wonky. I tried to go wide too soon and it began to wobble. I blamed it on the cold water, on an air bubble, on a hair I'd gotten in the clay. Anything but the truth, that it was more clay than I was ready for, and I'd not centered it well. I was irritated. I knew, in that moment, that the rest of my afternoon could go one of two ways - continue to throw with my ego, or walk away. So, I put myself into time out. For the next hour I watched an episode of Outlander, drank a glass of water and ate some Chex mix. When I went back out to the studio, I went with a renewed humility and respect. I also left my ego at the door. And, it turned out to be a pretty good afternoon.