One of my greatest joys is watching individuals who are passionate about a topic. It doesn’t matter what that topic is: cooking, developing, gaming, reading, or something else. I find I learn more about the world, and when watching individuals who are excited about the topic.
My friends and I believe that one of the most beautiful traits of an individual is watching them put their competence in a skill into action. We joke that’s one of the things that makes an individual sensuous to us.
Peacocks and Pride
I can barely thread a needle and yet I absolutely devour content from individuals like Bernadette Banner. It was through her videos that I discovered Cathy Hay.
I was enthralled watching her work on the Peacock Dress while discussing her own life, the choices she has made, and the way she’s constantly working on self-acceptance. I watched as she learned about the history of the dress, what it would take to make it, and the actual cultural impact, both in the past and today.
“If thou seest anything in thyself which may make thee proud, look a little further and thou shalt find enough to humble thee; if thou be wise, view the peacock’s feathers with his feet, and weigh thy best parts with thy imperfections.” – Francis Quarles
Watching Cathy make the choice to stop working on it and embrace another project was something that left me feeling introspective. In fact, it was a bit awe-inspiring. She took years of research, study, and development and pushed it aside to embrace something else.
There’s this sense of compassion and humbleness in how she speaks about herself and others that I find inspiring. I’ve watched her struggle with her own mental health. I’ve watched her struggle with her own self-image and self-acceptance.
Over the years, I’ve watched and enjoyed each video she put out, and her latest video made me stop what I was doing and think. See, normally I watch her while I am working on something else. A bit like a little podcast. Her voice is so soothing to me (and yes, I’ve watched her struggle with that as well) and I love how she poses questions while explaining what’s happening in her world.
What are you?
In her latest video, I Made 3 Months Progress In 1 Month || Hand Embroidery for a Victorian Velvet Coat, she poses the question, “Can any of us call ourselves an artist?” This question is posed during her talking about what she’s been thinking about lately.
I stopped coding, sat back with my cuppa, and gave the video my whole focus. The whole video was a joy to watch and made me sit and think.
I spend my days teaching, developing, and coding. I game and learn. I also spend a lot of time thinking about my own Imposter Syndrome, and as I posted only a few days ago, I get hit with feeling deep senses of shame when attempting to classify what I am.
Who am I?
If you looked at my About page when I first released this site, does it does not mention my teaching. In fact, I choose to only show 2 facts and then listed 5 things other say about myself to explain who I am. In essence, I was portraying how I view myself, indeed how I want others to view me, by how people view me.
That changes today. Towards the end of the video, Cathy poses a challenge:
Tell somebody you’re an artist. Tell yourself you’re an artist. And I wonder whether anything will change in how much you do the thing, how often you do the thing, how much you show up for yourself, and the creative arts that give you joy. – Cathy Hay
Now I would not classify anything I do as artistic, but I am going to take that challenge on in a way that fits who I am.
I have changed my About page to reflect who I am. And I am going to take that next step and see just how much I show up for myself, my students, my clients, and my coding projects.
This is my way of saying, “Thank you Cathy Hay for being you, sharing your thoughts, and letting me watch as you continue to grow and evolve. You’re one of the most beautiful individuals I have been blessed to have run across on YouTube”.