Sunday, September 14, 2008

Polly Grows

You know; I wrote a post over on Vinca'a In Tha Kitchen about one of my favourite topics the other day; procrastination! Quite what this has to do with cooking I'm not exactly sure; except that it all started with a comment from Lorna on how she ought to be doing the vacuuming, washing, etc. I know the feeling!

In amongst the many and varied tasks required to run the average household there has to be one essential item; sanity. Sanity is what allows us to overlook some of the jobs which need doing; don't have the time to complete and prevents some of us from making ourselves ill just thinking about it.

I have gone from being positively insane to relatively sane. Whilst working in a highly stressed environment requiring specialised qualifications, huge amounts of dedication, enormous physical and mental stamina and a sunny disposition with the ability to work within the confines of ethics, policies and legality I was certifiable. Combine all of this with a relatively short commute, motherhood and ill-health it is little more than a wonder that I wasn't locked up years ago!

Since then I have been forced to reappraise my priorities while taking a well deserved break from the mayhem of my professional life. My ill-health, which was probably caused by my maniacal grasp on the stark realities of contractual obligations to the well-being of others has forced this upon me.

In finally realising the need for a break, before cracking up altogether I have forged a new and different lifestyle for me and my family; one which would never have been possible before. During the early days of my despair; before the realisation had truly hit me, I floundered in the depths of misunderstanding. I truly believed that I would be back to work at the end of the month, then it was the following month and then the next.

This is where Vinca Cards emerged from; the brain fog which accompanies my diagnosed Fibromyalgia/ME was beginning to distress me more and more. I needed something to keep my brain active; after all I wasn't using my professional skills any more and I was growing increasingly afraid of my future. When some of my friends started to tease me that I had Alzheimer's Disease; that was the final straw...

I already knew that I had a modicum of talent with regards to rubber stamping, thanks to an ill-fated trip to France in 2006. In the aftermath of a road accident I had discovered Cultura, the kind of shop I had never imagined existed. Thankfully rather than allow myself to be overwhelmed by the variety of craft goods in stock I gleefully immersed myself into a whole new world; which was to become my therapy.

Nowadays I can look back and laugh quietly to myself about my initial efforts at crafting congratulatory cards for friends and family alike. In retrospect the spirit was willing but the flesh was weakened by my limited understanding of what I was doing; my only hope is that nobody else noticed! At this stage I should thank all of the crafts people and artists who make their work available on line to folk like me; allowing us to benefit from their wealth of experience in this area.

Since then things have gone from strength to strength; with my confidence in my abilities improving alongside the quality of the cards produced. As recently as February of this year I have embarked on a range of Wedding Stationary; at the initial request of an appreciative friend; who has just asked me to undertake the making of her Thank You Cards. Little by little my repertoire has grown and I sincerely hope that it will continue to do so well into the future...

What is for certain is that if I continue to put things off I will end up going around in circles and basically getting nowhere fast. So from this week onwards my sanity can stay; but the procrastination has to stop! Wish me luck and continue to watch this space for updates on the life of Polly Pierce at Vinca Cards...

Polly Pierce



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Definitely good luck. But your post reminds me that I have a trip to the post office. I'll let you know when I've been...

Polly Pierce said...

Cheers Jean! Something tells me that I'm going to need it; it's hard to break old habits...