Abandoning Projects is an Art
I don’t believe in regret. It’s a wasted emotion. We all make mistakes; the goal is to learn from them and grow. Spending time thinking “what if” or how you “should have” done something does not improve the situation; learning from it does. Rather than focusing on what can’t be changed, I have always felt it best to fix my mistake, apologize if necessary, and commit to doing things differently in the future.
Unfortunately, this opinion often makes me jump headfirst into new projects with abandon. I see every situation as an opportunity and rarely take time to think things through. I take on too much, and when it fails, I think, “at least I tried.” I can’t even count all the times I have dragged my family and best friend into my ventures.
But Look at All the Things I Can Do
For example, there were the Christmas Lightboxes. We drilled holes into glass blocks, stuffed string lights inside, and wrapped them with big bows like gifts. We sold a lot of them, but I was still giving them away years later. Then there was the time I learned to crochet and made blankets for everyone. I still have the yarn, and I don’t think I remember how to crochet.
Then I decided I would paint my mom an entire ceramic Christmas Village by hand. I finished a few, but the rest sat in my closet for years until my friend finished them for her. I bought so many buildings that my mom’s village ended up with two sweet shops, but that suits our family!
I also love to bake. Which means I am always creating new recipes. If I can only have one dream, it’s to make a cookbook. The one problem is remembering to write the recipes down! I do the same thing when cooking, and create something wonderful and then promptly forget how I did it. I am getting better at it. Creativity is what drives me; the details sometimes elude me.
A Tale of an Etsy Shop
And then, of course, there was the Etsy Shop, which still exists but is product-free. I started with a “Direct to Print" model. I live in a small home and didn’t have the room to store products, so I felt like it was the perfect solution. However, it really didn’t spark interest. I spent so much time setting everything up, but the monthly service costs were more than I was making in profit. I also had a ton of issues with Etsy flagging my listings for item descriptions, even though other shops were using the same wording provided by the Direct to Print company. In the end, I decided to switch directions and start a wreath-making business.
The Tale Continues
Making wreaths was far more successful, but it left my house in shambles and product decorating every inch of wall space. I had neatly wrapped wreaths everywhere! And the glitter ✨✨✨. At one point, I thought about selling tickets for tours of my home, which looked like a Christmas Village. I not only sold items on Etsy but also went to dozens of craft fairs every weekend to sell wreaths. It was a lot of work, and I enjoyed making every single wreath, but space became an issue. I started moving supplies around seasonally and storing the rest at my parents’ house. They didn’t mind, but it really wasn’t practical since they live four hours away.
Luckily, the wreaths made enough profit, and we bought a Glow Forge. This machine allowed for customizable creations and wouldn’t cause merchandise storage problems. Unfortunately, I had to store it in the garage, which isn’t temperature-controlled, and the Glow Forge overheats when it is over 75 degrees. Yep… all that research, all that saving and planning, and I can only use the thing half the year. So the Etsy shop sits empty. And still, I have no regrets 😀
Perfectly Imperfect
Even though I have no regrets, I also want to put my past experiences to good use and learn from them. That is what this “reinvention” is really about. I’ve struggled to start this blog because I didn’t want to fall into the same traps. I didn’t want this to be another idea for my neurodivergent brain to move on from. So, I have been using my years of project management experience to stay focused. I’m “putting pen to paper,” so to speak, in order to hold myself accountable. I am using my support system to keep myself honest and ask for help when needed, which I hate doing. However, I recognize it is a necessity for my success.
This blog not only gives me structure but also allows me to find new and exciting challenges. It lets me express my creativity and embrace my uniqueness through random musings. Much like this blog, I am a work in progress. I am never going to be perfect, but I can always keep moving towards becoming a stronger, kinder, smarter version of myself.
