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Oh, this is so true. Nice share, BlackDog!

When I was starting to do leather work (it's what I do in my day job), I probably threw away half the leather I started with. I made huge mistakes. I made little mistakes. I had to re-design to make things fit. My work looked clunky. I didn't know how to use the equipment. I felt awkward and clumsy. I was afraid of some of the tools. I didn't have a fluid, gut level understanding of the skills I was learning. There were times I really wanted to quit because my ability to do things fell far short of my expectations, just as Ira Glass explained.

But eventually the the projects I completed started to look pretty okay. Consistently decent, nicely designed, and well constructed. And then they started to look better than okay, consistently and reliably. When I realized I was able to use techniques with ease that a few years earlier would have made me worry and procrastinate, well, then I figured I'd finally survived my apprenticeship. It was a good feeling.
 
Thank you for sharing. I don't know who Ira Glass is but it felt good to hear this. I am such a perfectionist, I have to remind myself that there is a learning curve and it's okay to make mistakes.
 
I love this video; it's so true. We are our own worst critics!

Ira Glass has a excellent radio show on NPR called "This American Life" that airs on Sundays where they present three or so related stories on a theme. They have a complete archive of shows here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/. I really cannot recommend it enough. I was introduced to Sarah Vowell, David Rakoff, and heard David Sedaris for the first time on the show. Really, it's just excellent...
 
Thank you for posting that! I really needed to hear it. I've worked daily for a year to improve my soaping and always felt slow at catching on. Luckily for me I have never once considered quitting, I realize it is the process I must go through to one day make true artisan soap and watching this video validated my hard work :)
 
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Just a quick one-minute video from Ira Glass (NPR's This American Life) - I think this is good advice for many of us relatively new soapers who want to make beautiful, amazing-lathering masterworks, but don't always hit the mark.

Something for us to keep in mind!

http://omeleto.com/188186/

This is what I am going through NOW! I have not been on the forum much and I have made little soap. I have this urge to stop, because everything I do I have to force myself. I force myself to order foamer bottles, I forced myself to get on the forum, I force myself to at least do one thing that is soap related. Because I didnt know about this video and how ok it is to be...I guess on a plateau, I thought it was some kind of sign saying, "I am not good." Wow, Thanks BlackDog for a wonderful thing. I will keep on pushing.:twisted:
 

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