Yeoman's in the Fork Blog

Challenges come into all of our lives in different forms, and there is always a lesson to be learned. Some challenges are huge and some are just frustrating and annoying. Are you wondering where I am going with this yet?

When I first started creating fore-edge paintings the hardest part was just getting the book into the press. The pages had to be fanned just perfectly. I struggled and struggled with it. I won’t bore you with all the different things I tried, much to my frustration. Then one day I was talking with a friend who teaches fore-edge painting and book binding classes, and moaned about my challenges with getting the book into the press with only two hands. If only I had more hands, I thought! But, my friend, Jeanne Bennett says to me, “Just take the top easel bar off first.” Ok, I am a pretty smart person, but I do not have a mechanical or engineering mind-set. It was so easy. Her suggestion solved the problem.

So, back to the challenges part—I created this challenge for myself. I had turned my learning experience from one with flow into one with challenge. I had made the process more complicated than it was. And there is always help around the corner; all you have to do is ask. Life really is simple, if we only allow it to be.

See you next week!