January - The Two-Faced Month
This month takes its name from Janus, in ancient Roman mythology and religion the god of beginnings and endings, of doorways, gates and passages.
In imagery, the deity is two-faced, one visage looking backward to the past, the other forward to the future. In some depictions, the former is elderly - bearded, wisened and time-worn; the latter is youthful - smooth skinned, expectant and perhaps a bit callow.
A time for declaring those often unattainable "New Year's Resolutions," January is also a time when many of us pause to reflect on Auld Lang Syne, or "Old Long Ago," so hauntingly expressed in the ancient poem first expressed on paper by Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).
Now, with snow on the ground and the nights still long, I think it's time to expound on some of the changes that have taken place since June 2017 and my somewhat ill-tempered post about the woes then besetting (and still besetting) many small sellers who continue to struggle along with a venue that is no longer right for us.
I'm calling this post "Lessons Well Learned and Decisions Well Made." The year 2020 will surely hold many surprises (after all, what year doesn't?) and there will be new lessons requiring new choices, but those are yet to be.
First, Lessons Well Learned since my deeply felt but, as it turns out, ineffectual rant of 2017.
- We can vent till our boats come in (if ever they will), but all the diatribes in the world won't alter the course any publicly traded company sets for itself. The goal is, and must now be, pleasing their shareholders. Wasting our breath blowing steam won't bring our little tugs home any faster; more likely, our hot air will serve to blow them off course.
- There are so many more satisfying things to do, so much wiser ways to spend our days, than expending precious energy and effort fighting battles we are ill equipped to win. If you've ever beaten your head against a wall, even metaphorically, you've learned - as I have - that you end up on the floor with an aching head, while the wall remains standing upright and, as far as we can know, feeling no pain.
This is not to say I'm fully turning my back on that unheeding wall-- er, make it that unheeding venue, not yet anyway, and I do like my banner there.
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| Rough Magic Creations on Etsy |
- When springtime comes and my last listing there expires, I'll reassess the value of that shop and either keep a few items there or close down completely. I'm hoping whichever route I choose, it will be the wise choice.
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Now, Decisions Well Made.
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| Rough Magic Creations Website |
- This past summer, drawing on what I've learned, I decided to devote almost all of my working hours (which will now be fewer) to developing and promoting my stand alone website, opened almost three years ago, but ill advisedly neglected while I was still wishing and hoping for better days where I was already established.
Joe, wiser than I, opened his website a few months after I did and has worked steadily there since. We consider his the better choice, as the shops and galleries there are already establishing themselves as reliable online stores and Joe as an honest and respected seller.
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| Prospero Lane |
- With my own site up and running smoothly, it is time to set new goals - for this year and beyond.
- To enjoy, and give thanks for, the aspects of life I most treasure -
- My wonderful husband, my loving family members and enduring friendships, a comfortable home, excellent health, a sweet (and smart) black cat, good books, a warm fire, and more blessings than I can begin to count.
- To revisit earlier dreams and ambitions -
- Drawing, painting, writing.
- To expand my knowledge and develop new skills -
- Photography, cooking, new jewelry designs and techniques.
- To praise more and complain less.
- And ... to be a more lively, attentive (and hopefully more intelligent) blogger!
- To enjoy, and give thanks for, the aspects of life I most treasure -
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