They Not Only Say it, They Mean it!

For week twelve in our fifty week calligraphy challenge we were asked to create a weathergram. We have been asked to make these each year for the past three years, so I opted to dissect the idea and do something different. A weathergram is a paper bag but into strips that are hung my a string to flutter in the air, kind of like a bookmark. Instead, I cut the paper bag into two inch squares and illustrated the weather we have had for the past month. I found lyrics by Hank Williams Jr. that fit perfectly.

There are some times when we can’t do things exactly as expected. That would be too easy, too boring, too much like everyone else. Sometimes we have to go our own way and jostle things up a bit. It means following our hearts and having the confidence to support and defend our ‘different’ outcomes. It also means you may be asked to do it again because it is not what people expected.

I was hired at a company because I had different ideas, a fresh perspective. When I was asked to create a program, the comment I received was, “It’s not very much like what we always do.” I then reminded them that they hired me to bring new ideas to the table. They told me it was good, it just needed to look and feel more like the stuff they always delivered. So I said, “So you want new, and fresh and different, but you want it to look and feel like everything you have already done.” And they said, “EXACTLY!” I then said my statement again, and they set up another meeting for me to ‘polish’ it to look like everything else out there. I shook my head and realized I was in for a very long haul.

The frustrating part of that encounter was realizing they didn’t really want new or different, they just wanted to think they did. The good news was that I completely comprehended exactly where I stood moving forward…keep it safe, keep it like everything else, and just pump it out. Maybe this experience was in the back of my mind when I read this week’s prompt. Maybe having to do that same old for so long made me rebel this week. Or maybe I just had more in me than another weathergram.

So three cheers for doing things our own way, and not caring what anyone thinks. I was happy with the outcome and had no worries about criticism or being asked to do it the conventional way. The wonderful beauty of this creative group is that all ideas are welcome. They not only say that, they mean it. How refreshing, right?!?