The Tortoise and The Hare
There once was a speedy hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing him boast, Slow and Steady, the tortoise, challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.
Hare ran down the road for a while and then and paused to rest. He looked back at Slow and Steady and cried out, "How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?"
Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, "There is plenty of time to relax."
Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line.
The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise, they woke up Hare.
Hare stretched and yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise was over the line.
After that, Hare always reminded himself,
"Don't brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!"
I read an interesting blog post at Circa Vintage this morning and it got me to thinking about this beloved Aesop fable. Circa Vintage resides in Australia and is the brain child of vintage clothing extraordinaire Nicole Jenkins. She runs a brick & mortar vintage clothing shop in Melbourne, an online shop , has written a fabulous book "Love Vintage" , and she has also worked in costume hire, film, television, theatre and fashion in Australia and in the UK after studying costume design and construction at Perth Technical College and the WA Academy of Performing Arts.
It was her list of what is involved in adding new items to her website that got me thinking:
"It’s quite a process – I’ll take you through it…the item is….
1 – Mended.
2 – Hand washed or dry cleaned.
3 – Checked for damage and mended again if needed.
4 – Measured and the particulars written up on a product sheet (if it’s a pattern we also check all the pieces are there)
5 – Photographed.
6 – The photo may be edited if needed, and is also renamed.
7 – The photos are loaded online.
8 – The content is added to the photos.
9 – More photos may be taken if details or damage have been overlooked.
11 – The item is published!
12 – If I really love it, I may post it to Facebook or Twitter too.
This process takes around 2 hours for each item and all four of us who work at Circa will handle it at some point as we all have different roles. Not surprisingly, there are currently lots of items that are at some point in the process so not all 1100 are published but quite a few are – if you’re looking for something and you can’t see it yet, stay tuned because every week more are being published." (source: Circa Vintage)
Whenever I read posts such as this one, I have one of two reactions, depending how things are going for me. I either:
1.) Feel vindicated and understood. At least someone out there realizes the work involved in running an online vintage clothing store~~which is far different than simply an online store, where merchandise is brand new, wrapped in plastic or boxes and there are probably 500 of a particular item available, but only has to be listed once. Not with vintage~~every item is unique and almost always needs TLC before any of the work can really begin. If you want to be a respectable seller, that is. We won't even go there today.
or
2.) Feel completely overwhelmed & discouraged. I look at the long list of steps involved~~and she's right, it is about 2 hours per item, whether the item is worth $12.00 or $1200.00~~and wonder how I will ever get it all done. With the obligations of running a household (properly), being a parent, community & spiritual obligations, health & exercise, and making time for family & friends it is no wonder days will go by without even one single photo being snapped in my workshop. Not one hem mended. Not one dress brought to the dry cleaners. Not one pair of shoes polished. Nothing. None. Nada.
When I read her post today, I felt a little of both. My little one is home with a fever, a thick coating of ice gave us a 2 hour delay for school, so even if she were well, the morning is shot as far as getting any work done. With her little pink cheeks and glassy eyes brimming with tears because she knows if the fever doesn't leave she won't be able to sing her solo perfomance in the school talent show this weekend, I submit to the ache in my heart for her and silently switch from Work mode to Mommy mode.....what's another day.
"Slow and Steady won the race...." even if we are down to a very slow crawl.
