THE COURAGE TO MAKE MISTAKES

Organizing and Reorganizing

The days are getting shorter. The crisp air and morning frost remind me that everything is preparing to welcome the cold season of the year. A season that has always meant a kind of “split personality” for me… ;)) Because during winter, I put on a pair of skis, only to take them off in spring. Autumn is the ideal time for me to attend and teach courses. We live by seasons in Alta Badia, and one way or another, we’re all connected to this. The “off-season,” from October until the end of November, are months to dedicate to ourselves, to our personal and professional growth. Personally, since becoming a mother, I find it difficult to organize attending in-person courses that last more than a day. So I go for all the interesting things the internet offers me. That’s how I came to design and study how to organize my live and online courses. It would never have been feasible for me otherwise with two small children and an established business. These are the great advantages of living in our time.

WHAT I LEARNED DURING MY LATEST COURSES

I just completed the “adventure of the ‘Sewing Festival’, a 3-day non-stop series of sewing courses, pattern making, and machine use. As after every course, the emotions I draw from it are truly many and precious.
You teach a lot, but perhaps you learn even more. The energy created during these events is truly spectacular. People who share common interests often operate on the same wavelength, and the harmony is definitely felt.”
No “person is identical to” another, but all are equally motivated to learn and improve.
Teaching in this kind of environment is truly a privilege. When I start to see the spark of enthusiasm in people, I start to learn myself….
What I’ve learned, seeing it in others and feeling it in myself, is that often the desire to do well, to be perfect, and to not be judged negatively leads us to have too much FEAR. Fear is beneficial in everything, until it exceeds our initiative. It’s fine as long as it helps us act better, more focused and determined, but it’s no longer good when it blocks our creativity and courage to try.

So Here’s to the Courage to Make Mistakes, Here’s to the Courage to Embrace our Imperfections!

So here’s to work that isn’t perfectly done, but executed to the best of our abilities at that moment. There’s nothing less stimulating than work started with enthusiasm and abandoned halfway through for fear that the final result won’t be perfect. Often when we start something new, our enthusiasm is so high that we start in fifth gear… only to find ourselves in reverse the next month! What I’ve understood and learned is that, to avoid this, we need to take small steps at a time. “Lose” a bit of time at the beginning to gain more later. Take a running start to run faster and further in the future. Laying good foundations, taking small steps at a time has been my turning point in learning to better manage my new skills.
This is also what I try to teach during my courses. My goal is to see passion for what they do born in people, my desire is that people, years later, still send me photos of the work they’re doing. At that point, I believe I’ve done a good job, at that point I think I’ve honored my gift of knowing how to do and pass on. The fear of not doing well won’t make me give up doing it. It will make me prepare better, it will make me embrace my inability to fully reach the goal, but it certainly won’t block me in my intent.

If you’re in the area and want to lay truly solid foundations for learning to use the sewing machine, I invite you to my basic course: “THE SECRETS OF THE SEWING MACHINE”, in San Cassiano on October 14th, from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. It will be an afternoon where we take a running start together and have fun while learning.
Hugs

Anita

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