Stitch This

You probably know I am in the throes of a massive house and life move….surrounded by packing cases, bags for the charity and mounds of laundry, I am contemplating life choices. Walk with me a while…

Apart from the obvious catalysts for these reflections, I came across my old school reports this week as I delved into hidden crevices and cupboards. Now some might cringe at those old, monochrome, unfocused snaps of our pre digital selves. No filters or finessing here. But me? I love them. I love trying to piece together the family history, match faces with legendary stories passed around at long ago family parties. And so, as I read the reports I noticed a strong pattern emerging. I was consistently praised for, encouraged to do and generally surpassed expectations in creative writing and art. And yet, I ended up studying maths, physics and chemistry ‘a’ levels along side art. And then I studied for a physics degree and THEN became a tax advisor.

I never lost my thirst for creativity, I just rechanneled it from oils, charcoal and inks into legislation, management processes and quantum mechanics. Whenever there was a received wisdom, I challenged it, turning it in its head, picking apart. While this was definitely very interesting and engaging, it didn’t always pay off professionally when the majority of my colleagues couldn’t see the point (for which read fee earning potential) of my explorations. But then….sometimes it takes a while for new ideas to bed down. I had a cohort of fellow early adopters and many of them now, years later, are reaping the benefit of being a forefront of a new development or idea. Me? I made the fatal mistake of not sticking around….I went on to the next creative opportunity, and then the next and the next. A personal choice not to stay to ‘farm’ that which I had hunted down. No wonder I look one proudly when my cat plays happily for hours chasing moths and other winged creatures only to give up with noted disgust when they are finally caught and stilled.

But back to that schoolgirl. Why did I go down the science route? Why did I not follow the creative? I remember trying to decide between physics and design. I Chose the challenge. I always have. And I am now going to be embarking on the biggest challenge of my life. A good choice but difficult. Perhaps i need to study my reports’ advice some more…