What is hard for you?

There are things in life you expect to be easy and are hard and the opposite.  I got thinking about this over the weekend.  I planned to use the shells we collected on our vacation on the skirt of Sophie's first moon time dress.  I thought shells would be easy to make a hole in and had a whole pile to use.  After trying with a dremel tool and then the big drill, I still had no holes.  My quick easy task had become daunting.  I gave up on making a hole and glued on hangers.  How did our ancestors do it?

Below is Sophie at the beach collecting shells.

I thought beading on leather would be awful.  Every time I worked with leather in the past I ended up with sore fingers and a poor job, but the beading on Sophie's moccasins came along.  It was not easy, but it was doable with a little extra focus and time.

I thought about being newly married, I thought not dating and being with one person forever would be hard.  That was never an issue.  I thought being married would be easy, but that first year had a lot of challenges.  I thought about having kids, how they challenge our conceptions of what is hard and easy to live through.  I though about the role that expectations play in these valuations.  I though about how much control I have over these expectations and how little control over some of the physical realities. 

Making this dress for Sophie has been a great learning experience.  I have gotten to work with materials that are new to me.  I have had to share a design process with someone else.  I had to let a little sister free with paints, to a certain trepidation, but to a joy to see the care she tool over her work and the portrait she drew of her and her sister.  Trying things can be hard in ways you never even imagined or unexpected new pleasures.  What is hard for you?

If you are in Ottawa you might want to check out the Aboriginal Awareness Week Artisan craft fair celebration which will take place in the lobby of 10 Wellington Street from May 19th - May 22nd. I went to the winter craft fair and it was really great.  My favorite was little portable smudge kits for your purse.