Pig Power
… they’d fly to the moon, or so the saying goes. Why would a pig even want to fly to the moon? Well, you don’t know til you try it.
The winged pig is my emblem, these days. I have a beaded one hanging from the rearview mirror of my car, and a pair of them with magnetic noses cuddle above my sink. Why? To me, the winged pig is a reminder that you gotta have dreams and goals, and never give up on them. Maybe even a pig can fly. But it will never happen if you don’t keep trying.
A pig that can fly to the moon, that’s a pig that would stand out. For artists, in this economy, you pretty much need that kind of distinction just to survive. If, as the saying goes, old age isn’t for sissies, neither is earning a living as an artist or craftsman.
It takes a lot of luck, but to my way of thinking, luck is a lot like inspiration. You have to learn how to put yourself in its path, and be prepared to recognize it when it hits you. You can’t sit and wait for it to find you.
These days, my life is in disarray. I find myself living alone for the first time since I was 23, in a new community, trying to keep enough work lined up to meet my income needs. But I concluded, some years ago when my life was rearranged without my consent (by having to care for my mother, as well as my four young children, then deal with her death), if everything is up for grabs– grab something. That’s when I shifted from ceramics to jewelry. I had always wanted to try it, but never had time. I didn’t do *any* creative work for about three years, maybe four, and then I found I could not just go back to my old life. So I signed up for a jewelry class, and fell in love with it. The results, as they say, are history.
Back during that previous disruption, after my mother died, then my husband’s mother 4 months later, I overheard my husband talking on the phone, and he said something that has really stuck with me. Oddly, he doesn’t remember saying it, and he doesn’t typically use visual metaphors, but here’s what he said, describing what we had just been through.
He said, “It’s like you’re walking along, carrying your burdens, and bit by bit, more is added to your load until you’re bent over double and can only just see your feet as you keep putting one foot in front of the other. Then, one day, the load is lifted from your back and you straighten up, and find yourself in an unfamiliar landscape.” There is no “back”– every direction is equally unknown.
I feel pretty far into that territory now, and there is no going back, only forward. But I’ve already used that crisis as an opportunity, by moving to the woods I’ve wanted for 20 years. Can I afford to stay here? Only time will tell, but I’m working my butt off to get to… wherever I’m going.
I especially like my pair of pigs, because I’d really rather not blaze a trail alone. One of the problems between my husband and me was that he did not seem to have any dreams (or he chose not to share them with me). I hope he’ll find them– I’d still rather share mine with him, if we can work it out.
But the point is, never give up. I always tell my jewelry students, “There are no jewelry police who’ll come and tell you you can’t”. Keep after those dreams, and your determination will make things possible. There is a quote attributed (possibly erroneously) to Goethe:
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. ”
Be a winged pig.
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Thank you for posting this; it’s quite inspirational, left me feeling uplifted.
i’m really happy i saw this on facebook this morning. i am also at a crossroads – with no clear definition of what is to come………..traversing the path alone, once again, with no firm idea of my direction. that you shared this, and i happened upon it, at this specific time leads me to believe that even though i am feeling lost and in unfamiliar territory, there are those i will “meet” along the way that will provide encouragement and hope to me. thanks for the dash of hope and in return, i wish you good will on your journey.
I love the pigs. My particular obsession is with frogs. I have had an affinity with frogs since I was a child. I live in Australia and aboriginal friends have said that frogs must be my “dreaming” that is the spiritual quality associated with frogs in the natural world. Many years ago well before I finally started in jewelery I saw a display of Inca jewelery. The piece that most inspired me was a bracelet in the form of a chain of gold frogs. The lost wax casting, design and construction was exquisite. I finally started making jewelery after a period of massive change in my life — my own near death experience, deaths in the family, coming to terms with my own gender and sexuality, leaving my job as a university lecturer and moving back to the city of my birth for my partner to take a job.
Frogs symbolize to me the fragility of the natural world and our relationship with it. My jewelery is all based around casting using wax patterns sometimes combined with plant material to express the beauty of the natural world which nurtures us but which we are destroying. I have now made some frog bracelets — I wear one, so does my partner and her mother. However I am yet to make THE frog bracelet. I still have to develop my skills further before I can make it.
Keep pursuing those dreams.
Thank you. I needed this today.
This reminds me of a quote I read..”The will of God will not take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.” Life is always changing..as I have learned..and struggled to except..but realized it is the one constant-and I feel, we as human beings, creative by nature-if we don’t except change as it comes..our creative spirit goes to sleep(I think of the butterfly in its cocoon)…there is always a feeling of “something missing”…fear is a good thing when you challenge it and face it…like knowing in your heart creating jewelry is home to your soul…(that is how I felt when I took my first class)listening to your inner-self and just going for it-having the faith that every thing will work out and fall into place(life does work like this I’m realizing too!) So blessings to you.. And your flying pigs! (Do you make the little guys as charms or pendants btw? or earrings..how cute..like little angels on each of your shoulders!
Great post. Thanks. Love what your husband said, a perfect description of grief.
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