Friday, July 30, 2010

The Wonders And Woes of Ambition

" Do you ever get up in the morning, feed your family,
drive the youngsters to school and then come home,
look at your cluttered kitchen and untidy bedrooms and think
"Well, I really ought to clean the house top to bottom but I just
Haven't the ambition."

The ambition you are referring to is the worthy kind,
the one shorn of it's destructiveness. It's altogether desirable.
Without it we would be living in a world of dirty homes and discomfort.

But have you ever known someone who had her heart set on becoming
president of  a club, member of a sorority, writer of a bestseller,
or social leader of her community? Or perhaps, a popular craft blogger?
This is the other kind of Ambition, The harmful kind."

Everywoman's Magazine August 1954


( Okay I totally added the craft blogger thing myself.. but it just Fit So Well.)

I wondered!
I have the wrong kind of Ambition!
I blame the internet. Oh, the cursed wonderful Internet!

But look where my Harmful Ambition has taken me now:

Welcome to Bitter Betty's Dilettante Atelier


Harmful ambition, my sweet patootie! 
My living room is clean. 
My craft junk looks way more delectable in the light of day,  
I've already got a piece of art in the show
at the gallery downstairs  from the studio
and this week I found out one of my dresses will be in an
Honest To God Fashion Show  in September. 

Was it hard to pony up the rent at first? Yes. It was scary. 
I didn't feel like my efforts deserved it. 
I had a hard time justifying it. It felt selfish. But now? 
It feels perfect.
My home is better, my work is better, 
I'm part of a community of creative people
and Ican't wait to see what will happen next. 
Every day something new seems to happen and
my creative life feels like it just finally came out of it's cave.

I'm still struggling with the "clean the whole house" ambition, 
but at least I don't have to shuffle all the craft junk into a corner to do it anymore.

22 comments:

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Wow... this is awesome, and I suppose in some alternate dimension I am encouraging *harmful* ambition, but to heck with it... I say go!!!

Stickyknitter said...

WOW!! Where?? I am SO SO envious!
Do you need anything? I have a wonderful BIG comfy armchair in excellent condition and some other great furniture you might find handy...just let me know

You can call me Betty, or Bethany, or Beth ...Just don't call me late for dinner. said...

It's down off of River Street. I can't decide on furniture yet until I get enough shelves to organize my stashes...
But once I do I'll be in touch!

Ms.Cleaver said...

Congratulations on having your own studio space - I'm sure tons of wonderful things will come of it!!

Adrianne in Portland said...

Congratulations! You (and your family, and your house) deserve it! So awesome to have both spaces to thrive: one for work, one for relaxation, entertaining, family.
Keep inspiring!

Blaize said...

Oh, lordie. Your studio is beautiful As are you.

Kristin L said...

Congratulations on your new space! But what has teh mannequin done that she must face the wall in a headless time-out?

sulu-design said...

Shazam! How totally, wonderfully awesome. I'm so happy for you. Enjoy.

Mama said...

Yay! Hurrah! You've been practicing for this since you were a kid. Remember how I'd send you in to clean your room and instead of putting things away you'd set up displays. Good for you!!

BrendaLea, the Prpldy said...

Your studio looks awesome! Love, love, love it!!! I need some ambition to get mine cleaned up and organized. I hate to even go in there any more. But I miss my creating!

Tami @ Lemon Tree Tales said...

Yay! Here's to more of that 'harmful' Ambition! What a fantastic place to create your vintage lovelies. Enjoy it!

Momma Bear said...

Harmful ambition my A%%!
Look at all you have accomplished, the people you inspire to create, their own look and not conform to the cookie cutter world society says we must conform to!
Congratulations, you ambitious harmful woman, may I follow in your footsteps and be as successful!

Rose@craftymcgee said...

Wow! I'm nearly speechless! This almost pushes me over the edge into justifying remodeling my basement. It's fabulous! Yay for the sisterhood with the wrong kind of ambition! (To which I would add, this makes me more sympathetic to my incomprehensible mother).

Jenna said...

That is fricken AWESOME!!! Way to go!

Heidi Ann said...

How completely freaking fabulous!!! Congratulations!

Boutique Girl Gifts said...

Amazing. So jealous....makes me wish I could organize my studio room with such flair. Not enough square feet I'm afraid! Way to go!

zoe krylova said...

a toast to the harmful ways of the creative path. and big congratulations to you!

Bethany said...

Wow, it looks amazing! Totally inspired now!!!

Sonya Philip said...

Much belated congratulations! I couldn't see the photos when you posted last weekend, we were out of town and the place where we were staying has a stinky firewall that does not approve of flickr. Go figure. It's a lovely space. Tell me, were you kind of horrified when you were moving out of the house, about just how much there was? I remember not being able to figure out how all my belongings were crammed in, because once released, they seemed to expand exponentially.

Kelley Hart said...

So is this a shop? Or a studio? or both? Either way, it looks awesome. You deserve to have a special place to create!

Gold Coast Lawyers said...
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laura said...

Wonderful! I've finally got an "out of the house" studio too...and I think my work/fun will be better for it. Congratulations!

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