Wherever you go, there you are

I wrote this post weeks ago, meant to go back and do a proof-reading/edit, never did. Today, I have some time, so instead of going for a run I am dedicating an hour to my craft.


Wednesday night was my last class for Level 1 Interior Decorating. Our instructor handed back our final projects and sat down with each of us to explain our marks. I was last to get mine back.

The assignment had a few components: develop a furniture layout for a given floor plan, draw four elevations for the living room and dining room and one elevation for the bedroom, do a furniture and accessory collage for those rooms and write a profile of the imaginary client, demonstrating how the plan met the client's needs.

I was disappointed with my mark on my last assignment, a 71, given that I knew I'd put a lot of time an effort into it. My weakness is in my drawing. Everything must be measured and to scale. I take my time to measure no less than twice before committing my pencil to the paper and I line things up on graph paper to avoid lines with an undesired angle. Still, accuracy eludes me.

I didn't look at my mark when I got it back this week. I still haven't. My instructor pointed out to me where I'd missed details, how my dining room chairs were not consistent in size and my end tables in the drawings did not match the photos I'd selected. With every error she pointed out I grew more frustrated and more certain that this was not the class for me.

Floor plan, left. Furniture and accessory collage, right.

Furniture and accessory collage, left. Fabric and materials collage, right.

"You just need to take some more time and care with your drawings," she said.

More time? I spent all my free time, every weekend, for four weeks, working on the project. I don't have any more time or energy to give to this.

"But your client profile is the best profile I have ever seen. Absolutely. You have a great deal of potential," she told me. "Your furniture and accessory selection went along so well with how you described the client and her needs. You achieved a very sophisticated look that you don't see in any of the other students' projects. I really hope that you do take some time with practicing your drawing and continue on in level two. I think you have a very fun and modern design style."

I was touched by the praise and encouragement. Even in writing it can be hard to get someone to see the potential or merits of a work in progress.

"I don't know if I can give that much time to working on my drawing," I confessed. "I did spend a great deal of time on them, it wasn't like I left it to the last weekend."

"How long did you spend on your client profile?" she asked.

"Fifteen minutes," I said.

My instructor blinked. "Wow. You should be in marketing!"

When I told Lisa this story she laughed and said, "so you basically confirmed that you chose the right career path from the start."

I took the class because I got spooked in 2010 when I found myself miserable in my job and feeling like I had no out until something better opened up. I decided to try taking up something new that I could flip over to if I ever needed to make a quick exit to save my sanity. There is no easy path. Even when you put yourself on the path that you have a natural sense of direction for, you will stumble. You will meet great challenges. Trying to minimize the frustration of those challenges by finding other paths will open you up to finding more road blocks. There is no easy path. And really, how much fun is a never ending stretch of easy street anyway?