I took a project and a few small pieces down to the Pacific Beach pier last night for a San Diego sunset. It’s been awhile since I set myself up on the street like this, and I had to get over those initial nerves of hauling my work down to a place where no one asked me to be.
My work and my methods have come a long way since 2013-14, when I was selling leather earrings on the sidewalks of Portland, Maine. Six years later, I was concerned all those fine craft shows had made me a little soft -- putting my work back out on the street like this meant regaining a different kind of confidence. I kept giving myself a million different reasons why I should just ignore my compulsion to do it. But all boiled down to just two, and they weren't good enough: I feel shy and I don’t feel like carrying anything? Just like my younger Self back then, my Self of the Now got the f* over it. I can hustle! And I do have a cart so.... long story short: I did it. I’m going to continue to do it. I worked on a belt, I sold a wallet, I met some great people, and I bought myself a cheeseburger, some fries and a chocolate shake when I was finished. And I dipped the fries in the shake.
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