Basket Weaving for Fun and Profit

When I was in college, there was The Market in downtown Charleston and there were these ladies there who would lay out their baskets week in and week out. They were made from scratch. These ladies always had regular customers come rain or shine and they were there despite the latest craze or new thing that people in the stalls around would be selling. They always had smiles on their faces, and when they weren’t swarmed with customers, they worked on their wares and took pure enjoyment in what they did.

Sure, they made their livings at this, but you can imagine they’d be doing this regardless. I remember some weeks as a kid when we’d visit relatives in the area and we went through the area and sometimes they’d have a stockpile of these things, other times, a mere handful. The thing is, they didn’t follow trends. They didn’t worry if baskets were going to be hip or not in five years or five seconds. They provided a thing they learned how to make (probably from their own mother) and enjoyed doing it. You can imagine if they dug making lures, they’d have a bunch of fishing lures, crafted with as much care as these baskets I still see in my mind’s eye, laid out on those blankets.

Pick what you like to do–whatever it is–and pursuit it with the passion it deserves. Maybe you aren’t good at it. You can get better. Whether you’ll be good enough to make a living is a certain no if you never give it a go. Now, I must get back to those baskets.



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