Unfinished Object
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With my creation of ‘Homeless Crafts’ I’ve been asked more than once if I sell things, and my answer has been no. I have a bunch of reason’s but it really comes down to one, I don’t have to worry at how good or how bad the object turns out if its free. I dare you to complain about the quality of a free item ... can’t do it, can ya? I am protecting myself from the ‘unhappy customer’, and from admitting to myself that the odds-n-ends I tinker with might actually be ‘nice’ (at least to anyone who doesn’t sew). This is probably how I fell in with a bunch of knitters. We each think the other is doing magic.
Last week I read an article in ‘Body and Soul’ (Dare to Dream, by Cheryl Richardson; August issue) that seemed to speak on this very topic. The writer, a life coach, was giving a workshop where she encountered a woman, Carrie, who was trained in a form of body work (massage) and was giving away those services because she simply couldn’t ask for money. Carrie wasn’t sure what she was providing had value. By sheer happenstance another woman in the audience stood and said she had received the same type of body work from a neighbor, who also refused payment. She was so uncomfortable with not paying for the service that she never went back. At this point our heroine, Carrie, had an epiphany. It struck her that not accepting payment was, in a way, disrespectful.
I’m not sure I can come all the way around to ‘disrespectful’, but it is an interesting thought. When I had the idea for ‘Homeless Crafts’ I knew the hardest part for the participants would be the asking. Many of the folks who have asked have offered a craft or swap in return. I do appreciate the thought but I feel badly that by giving something away I actually created a sense of debt in another person. Whoa! Not even close to my original intention.
Yesterday a friend asked for three of the little smocks I am so enamored with for her grandchildren (yikes, I have a friend with grandkids ... where did the time go?). She offered payment, which I declined but not without considering it first. I know that I prefer being owed to owing; by giving things away am I bolstering my ego and my need to feel appreciated by squashing theirs? Is this the type of disrespect Carrie was talking about? Honestly I’m still not sure. What I do know were selling things I’d be missing out on this ... and I ask you. Isn’t that cuteness worth more than $20 any day?
In the coming months I will give Etsy another try but I have no plans to eliminate ‘Homeless Crafts’. If nothing else it will be a good way to find homes for prototypes, not-quite-rights, and Etsy no-sales and still allow me to craft at will. No breath holding though, as the bathroom project is still first and foremost on the list of thing to do. For the curious the tile is up and curing before we grout. Thursday installers are coming to measure for the doors; I’m going to be a little sad covering up all that pretty tile, and this weekend we grout. We’ll be showering again soon ... I bet the neighbors will be happy - heh.