Opportunities

We must be alert to the opportunities. We must be ready to them. An opportunity may knock on our door any time. It is not easy to be ready when it comes.

When we are young, we are not aware about opportunities. We don't see it coming and then suddenly the whole thing happens quickly.

I was finishing the college. Architecture is a long and expensive course. I had to do a lot of sacrifices to get it done. I had to work to the publishing house, I lived far from the school, no car, 2 children and no husband to support me. I was in the tenth semester. The last one.

I don't remember exactly what happened, but I had to stay in a place during long time waiting something be fixed and there was a man waiting too. We started talking and I told him about my miniatures. At the end of the conversation, I found out that the man was an important CEO of the publishing house where I worked. I became a bit shy because we were already talking like old friends. He told me to look for him at work next day. So, I did.

He wanted me to write a book about my miniatures! What opportunity! The normal way would be me looking for publishers to get a printed book. This is what normally happens. The young writers have their written books and start looking for publishers, often getting something like "No" as answer. But I had got a publisher asking me a book!

Firstly, I was super happy! Soon I started writing the book... But I had to stop because I must go to the college. I had to take care of my children. I had to work. Then, I got the idea that I couldn't write any book. I had no time! If I spent that semester writing a book, I wouldn't finish the college! I was in the very last semester!

What should I do? Write the book and quit the college? Or finish the college and let that opportunity go? If I had already a written book, that wouldn't be a problem. Yep! The opportunity came and I was not ready!

I did talk to the CEO again and told him my dilemma. I could start writing the book only in the next semester. His face did look like a puzzle. Later I got it.

When I finished the college, I went to look for him, but he was no longer working in the publishing house. He was retired. So, I lost that opportunity.

Choices

In most cases we do our choices in the dark, although it seems that we can see everything clearly. We try to hit the target. We get as much information as possible and work hard to be straight and focused, but we really don't know what is going to happen. Life is unpredictable.

Since I was a teenager I love drawing, painting and writing. Sure, my way would be in one of these fields. That is why I didn't know what to choose when it was time to go to the college. But I had to choose, then I decided to study journalism first. But when I was in the third year, I got pregnant and left the college when my baby was born. Later, I could go back and finish it, but I was so involved with the miniatures that I didn't. Well, you know, there was no time to keep going to the college while I was working with the miniatures.

During those years my life was just painting and painting. The "writing" thing didn't make sense anymore! It sounded as I was mistaken when I picked that. That is why I didn't go back to the college too.

Working with clay means being in contact with the four elements. Clay is earth. It need be watered all time, so we have to work close to the water. Then, it has to be dried by the air, and then burned by fire. Don't ask me about the fifth element! Well, you can ask: the fifth element is the creation. Without it we don't do anything.

When that room collapsed and my miniatures were distroyed, I was so mad that I wanted go to the opposite direction and be as far as possible from all of this. That is why I took some technical courses and quickly I was working with computers. But that was not my deal. A year later I was bored.

My parents wanted me to go back to college. They were glad to help me babysitting my kids. Then, I thought it would be better to study arts instead of journalism. My dad said that arts could be a problem to get a job if I needed. I should study architecture.

So, I did. I went to the college to study architeture during 5 very long years. My dad was a builder and I had other architects in the family, as my uncles and cousin. It would be easy to get a job.

I enjoyed the college, but it wasn't easy for me. Many times I had to have my kids with me in the classroom because my parents couldn't be with them. It sounded as I would have a nice career ahead.

But I was wrong! When I was looking for work I got a job in a publishing house. I had to make some illustrations and visual programming to books and magazines. It seemed perfect. However, eventually they needed people writing pages to the magazines. I ended up writing some pages and soon they only wanted me WRITING!!!

This is how I spent the next 20 years writing to magazines (being an architect!).

PS.: Dear readers, I didn't stop making my miniatures. Next you will see how I did everything at the same time.