Inspiration after none

I know my next post was supposed to be the bra modification for making a 3 piece cup, but I still haven’t taken those photos. I’ll take those tomorrow when I go down to the shop. Today I want to comment on how a lack of being challenged can really disrupt inspiration.

I have been teaching at FIDM for the past 7 years and I can honestly say I loved the first 5 years, but parts of me dreaded going to work the last 2. I wasn’t sure why my love of teaching fell to the side. I thought maybe it had to do with getting married, buying a house and having a baby.

Ok. Maybe those did have an effect on my motivation. Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to work with an individual creating her own lingerie business. We spent 5 days covering business and testing patterns.

I have to say that I learned a lot and I was the one doing the teaching. It had been a while since I had a dedicated student challenge me and try things they didn’t know. I learned that being challenged was inspirational for me. I also learned that its hard for me to keep my focus when things don’t go as planned.

A little history: Just a few weeks after I published Bare Essentials: Bras, I got pregnant. I lost my drive, maybe due to the 9 months of morning sickness, but I never got a chance to practice what I preached after finishing the book. I gained a fair amount of weight and made myself a half dozen bras, but by the time I finished each one I had outgrown it.

Besides the pregnancy, my students stopped caring, or maybe thats just how I saw them. None of them challenged me and after teaching the same class for probably the 100th time, I stopped feeling inspired.

I opened my store and studio so I could teach both new and old things, but most importantly, I wanted to feel inspired again. This last week I got my dose of inspiration. It was great to see someone getting ready to start their business. Because I’ve had my own businesses for years I occasionally feel burnt out and need “new blood” to get me back on track.

I just want to say, thank you Carla. I know you learned a lot, but you inspired me to follow the things I love doing again.