Have you ever had someone tell you, “Oh, that’s easy” but you struggled with getting the same thing done? We all have different skills sets, abilities and ways to handle learning something new.
When a math teacher shared this video with me I had an ah-ha moment. Often, students and potential clients will tell me they can’t do a particular craft or technique within a craft. I’ve even taught people who were told by other teachers that they couldn’t do something. In most cases it wasn’t a lack of ability but a lack of patience, grace or a guide to help them tackle the hard parts of learning something new.
Ask yourself, did you say that walking was too hard and just crawled the rest of your life? No. Did you say as a kid that learning to talk or read was too hard and never spoke or read ever again? No. We made it through the hard parts and then a teacher or other adult in our life gave us a new challenge, then another and another.
What does this have to do with sewing or knitting you might ask. Well, just like all the things I’ve mentioned already, fiber arts can be hard at first. But just like the coach in the video says hard things don’t get easier, we get better at doing hard things. Just like an academic teacher, I will be there to add a new challenge when you are ready and coach you along the way.
Repetition, practice and conditioning are key to finding success and enjoyment of your chosen craft.
If you have taken one of my classes you have probably heard me say, “Grace over guilt.” As I said at the beginning of this post, what may be easy to you could be really challenging for someone else. That is when we all need to give ourselves the grace to stumble, make mistakes and seek help. Rather than asking yourself why you can’t do something well, ask yourself the following:
- How long have you been trying?
- Do you practice on a regular basis or pick it up here and there with long time lapses in between?
- Have you taken a class? Not just watched a recorded video online but with an actual instructor who can see you, answer your questions, suggest different ways to approach a challenge and offer real-time feedback on your progress.
If you have done everything you can to learn something but still struggle, there is nothing wrong with giving yourself the grace to let that hard thing go and find another craft that will bring you joy.
Hope to see you in class soon,
Coach Dawn
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