Pearl making seminars
Some thoughts from Stephen King whom I have never read but do love his philosphy.
“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work,” wrote King. The answer is still, and will always be, work.
You want to be a double black cyclist/skier, potter it all boils down to work. Don't think you can start at age 69 and catch up with someone that started at 11. I started my clay carerr at age 6. Sorry dude but no matter how much you try they got a gazillion miles and tons of clay on ya.
I don't know many that have tried harder than me to do what I do at a top shelf level. Richard Aerni in Rochester gets my vote. I'm the 69 year old trying to be 27 again and catch up with the dude that is busting it out and just passed me. Goddamit! If I were 27 again I'd be giving you a run for it. You SOB!
Here is some more wisdom from Stephen King “It is, after all, the dab of grit that seeps into an oyster’s shell that makes the pearl, not pearl-making seminars with other oysters."
Ok, I admit I am sometimes the grit.
I have made a good living over the past decade teaching pearl-making seminars. In those seminars there are potters that have travelled the world taking pearl-making workshops with some of the best in the world. Do they go home and work? Do they go home and rest up and ready themselves for the next pearl-making workshop? The answer is still, and will always be work. Some of the very best students I have taught get enough out of one of my workshops to keep them busy for quite some time. I readily admit that 2 months with Mick Casson gave me 20 years of learning and exploration.
Today was a good day. Sounds like my pearl making seminars are on their way back. I got an invite to do a Zoom workshop with my friend Cyndi at C2C Gallery in Michigan in March, the invite to Fogo Island in Newfoundland in August is still on, and David Treub in Switzerland invited me to teach an experimental clay/woodfiring workshop in Portugal winter of 2022. My friend Emma Smith and I are talking of doing a series of Zoom workshops. Let me know what you are interested in.
Stop trying to pick the fly shit outta the pepper. Get on with it. Get to work. I think you are very capable of making a pearl. 
Comments
Positive thinking and moving on.
Participate in acts that encourage meditation. When you think of meditation, you might imagine sitting on a pillow, legs crossed, eyes closed. While this is one way to meditate, the truth is you can meditate at any time and, in fact, certain types of activity can actually encourage you to enter a meditative or mindful state. Try doing something slightly repetitive that doesn't demand too much brain power. This could be an activity like knitting, coloring, or throwing clay on a pottery wheel. Find a quiet, distraction-free place to work (turn off the television, etc.) and simply allow yourself to focus on your senses as you work.