Don't Take Your Dreams To The Grave

Image From Free Digital Photos

Ugh, I am hating how doom and gloom my blog has been sounding lately. It's almost to the point where I don't want to blog because I am sounding so dark, but this post really isn't meant to be dark, more motivating. I hope it comes off that way.

So in the past couple of months, on both Deviantart and Youtube, people I have been following passed away. One person I am not sure how he died but he took beautiful pictures, and a woman on who did these amazing DIY fashion videos was murdered by her ex while she slept. Both of these stories were so tragic, but all of their followers agreed on one thing, that we were glad we got to know them some and that they got to share their goals and dreams with us.

All this got me thinking about goals and dreams. We've got plenty of them. I'm sure you could make a list of them. However, how many of us reach for and achieve our dreams, or at least try? I want to become an author some day as well as a toy designer of some sort. I want to strive to make that happen sooner rather than later, but up to this point I've really done nothing to make that happen. No one is promised any length of time on this planet, From newborns to 100 year old people, we are all granted with the same amount of time each and every day, what we do with that time is up to us. If you aren't working towards your goals and dreams, you may end up taking them to the grave with you, and that would honestly be a such a waste. The world will never know how awesome you are at whatever you master at. If you truly have a life goal, start this moment to go for it. Sure, you may never reach them, but what if you do? What if all the work you put into it pays off. Won't you be glad you started right now rather than a year from now or never? And if you don't reach your goal, don't give up hope, it just means that wasn't the right goal to strive for. Rework it and go at it from another angle or try for a whole new goal, just as long as you are going for it, that is all that matters.

I was really sad to see these talented people were no longer with us, but they have left behind their works of art that I can continue to look at and view and be reminded how awesome they truly were. They left their mark on their world, don't leave the world without making yours. Until next time ladies and gents, take care, bye for now.

43 Things – Hobby Version

So there is a website called 43Things, where you make a list, of 43 things, and you try to complete that list. You complete the list on your own time, and you can either set up certain times to do things by or just do them on your own. I loved this concept and of course signed up...and then did nothing about the list except for one thing that I then turned around and stopped doing all over again. LOL! But I thought about my list and returned to it and wow, that's a lot of stuff I want to do. It would be over my lifetime that I would do it, so no rush to finish it, but I want to knock some stuff off it this year for sure.

This got me to thinking about the doll goals I have in mind for myself, and I thought to myself, why don't I make a 43Things list for my doll and craft hobby. Granted on my original list there are some doll and craft related things, of course, but this will be a fresh list to focus on along with my other list. So here goes, 43Things, the hobby edition.

1. First and foremost, finish those Christmas gifts. I've been putting them off for WAY to long.
2. Crochet a yarn wig. I just want to try it.
3. Crochet some fingerless gloves for Midori. I want to just try this one also.
4. Clean my craft area.
5. Practice face-ups on dolls.
6. Learn how to draw.
7. Work more on learning how to sew, knit, and crochet.
8. Do something doll clothing swap related I meant to do a couple of years ago.
9. Work on my shop logo.
10. Work on my shop layout.
11. Work on my blog layout.
12. Start blogging more.
13. Open my shop finally.
14. Do some tutorials.
15. Start visiting doll blogs again and commenting.
16. Start visiting craft blogs again and commenting.
17. Finish my first doll photostory.
18. Sell off photostory props I know longer need.
19. Do something about old doll magazines I no longer need.
20. Start new doll photostory/webcomic
21. Start visiting doll forums again and getting more involved.
22. Start visiting craft forums again and getting more involved.
23. Clean up my email so I can use it to stay in touch better.
24. Root my sister's Obitsus
25. Finish rooting Liv doll wigs.
26. Sew a wig for Midori.
27. Find new elastic and restring Midori and Christmas Noel
28. Give a face up to Disco
29. Finish up old sewing projects.
30. Start designing clothing I want to sell.
31. Build up a shop inventory.
32. Find out about SP, this is a more personal thing but it does deal with my shop so I will list it.
33. Write more doll articles. Love writing about doll stuff, I'll have to post some stuff here.
34. Clean up LJ blog to x-post in Google-friendly way.
35. Take better pictures.
36. Do my videos for my Youtube channel.
37. Work on my Tumblr blog layout.
38. Work on my website layout, it's been the same since 2008.
39. Start working on creating patterns, it's been a passion of mine.
40. Work out shipping for shop, I would prefer flat rate to keep shipping simple. Hummm.
41. Expand my doll collection. Once I sell off a lot of my props from old story I can do that.
42. Start working on my Dds, more on that when I get to it.
43. Start using Twitter more, I am still a noob with Twitter and I've been on it for years. :-(
44. Go to a doll meet.
45. Buy my mom a bjd. I know she'd like one and I'd love to buy her one.

So I add two more because I was on a roll, and they are all a jumble. I won't be doing them in any order, but these are some things I want to take care of when it comes to my doll and craft hobbies. A lot of this I can do this year, but some may have to be pushed to early next year. But I will bust butt to get most of the list done this year and will update you as I complete things. On my original 43Things list, I replaced an item I did with something else so I was always striving for something new to do, but I think with this list I will just mark things off and when I complete everything that is when I will start a new list. Consider starting your own 43Things list, it may help you get more productive and help you see a goal you have in mind. It doesn't have to be doll related either. You could always make a list on the website, which is cool because you can see how many other people have that goal and it makes you feel less alone on your journey. I'm excited to get started on my list. I started on one item already that I will talk about in my next post. I want to take some pictures and explain what I am doing exactly.

And on that lovely note, I am off peeps. I want to get started on my list and share the one thing that I did start on. I want to try working on it a bit more before sharing, but I will do so in a day or two, promise. I hope everyone is having a great day and I hope you all have an awesome weekend. Take care and bye for now.

Feeling inspired,

Michelle 

Images From 43Things