Learning from Erin...

Today was discouraging... I’d been trying to get the office cleaned up a bit and caught up on paper work, but there were lots of e-mails to answer. Today included not one but 2 apparent cases of copyright infringement... and I can’t pretend that it doesn’t really hurt. I’ve been told that I should be “flattered” that someone likes my images enough to want to share them, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a compliment. It feels like theft. One case is a bit more disturbing than the other because it looks as if the chart the person is stitching from might have been “recreated” somehow, but I may never know unless they are willing to send in the illegal copy.

I was stewing over these incidents as I hung up the laundry to get a break from the computer. We are still in the midst of a wonderful warm spell and I was thinking of Erin running yesterday. Not only had she gotten lost, she had shared that when she did find her way back on the proper path, someone teased her about looking for a shortcut like the “others who wanted to make good time”. She asked me if some people would actually cheat to win the race.

Ouch! Who says kids can’t ask really tough questions at only 8??!!

This prompted one of those Mother/Daughter talks about being true to yourself and having the integrity to do what is right... even if is doesn’t get you ahead as fast as someone who cheats. lies or makes others look bad. I asked her how she thought a person who cheated would feel when everyone was complimenting them on the podium for winning the race. She thought about it and decided the person would “feel all woozy in their tummy ’cause they knew the truth”. Hmmmmm! That’s one smart little dragonlet there!

I sat down to check e-mail again to be sure another reply for business had gone through.. and there was a note from Kreinik about the Reflections Newsletter featuring a project that I had the pleasure of designing with their glow in the dark threads and a lovely profile about me that made me blush. It is still strange to read how I am seen through another’s eyes.

So today, I am reminded of my daughter’s example... to keep running until I get to that finish line. To run the race without cheating, even if it means that someone else “wins” and also to have to blow the whistle when I do see something wrong being done.

One of the reasons that I was so interested in starting this blog was to put a very human face on the person behind the dragons... As I wrote a few days ago - don’t let anyone make you give up on your dreams!!

Never be afraid to learn from your kids either. Sometimes I think they are a lot more intelligent than us grown-ups!