Sunday, August 31, 2008

I Love This Job!

"Work is love made visible" – Kahlil Gibran

This is one of my favorite quotes. I've been very fortunate to have jobs throughout my life that expressed this. I loved teaching children, and I cared about them so much. I felt invigorated and challenged when I taught psychology and philosophy in England. The best job I have ever had is definitely being a mother, and it is well worth all the effort it takes. Now, I seem to have stumbled upon another job that brings me a lot of happiness: drawing designs for baby and toddler clothes.

I constantly drew as a child and teenager, and I always preferred to draw people. It’s great to be reconnecting with my creative side. Managing the CafePress shop takes a lot of hard work: I’m honestly shocked by how many hours I’ve spent just cleaning up images on the computer. But whenever I get the rare gift of "me time" - it truly is rare for a mother - I always rush to spend it on this.

This is definitely a team effort. My husband, Patrick, is a masterful techie: he loves to solve problems with his computer and he has supported me tremendously since I first asked him whether he thought I should give this a try.

I was jumping up and down with joy yesterday when I made my first sale, and I’m eager to show my friends and family our website. I’m proud of what we’ve created. I believe my drawings have a unique character of their own, and the multicultural features and diverse characters (jock, hippy, goth, nerd, etc) make it likely that families will be able to find a design that matches their style. Now, I just have to wait to see if this job will reveal itself to be a paid or volunteer position!