Sonya Spencer

The Lessons That Beading Taught Me

When I first started beading, I tried it because I wanted to see if I could do it. I’ve always admired the beauty of beaded bracelets. But, a part of me believed that I lacked the skill to create something so beautiful. To my surprise, not only was I able to make them, I enjoyed it. And that enjoyment turned into a place of happiness and retreat for me. As I would get lost in my creations, beading created a space for me to allow stress to melt away. But it wasn’t all fun in the beginning. When I first started looking for inspiration for my designs, I would often compare my creations to other artisans who had been beading for years. I always felt like my creations weren’t as beautiful because they didn’t look quite like theirs. As a new beader, I didn’t think that I could ever measure up to these amazing designers. What I didn’t realize is that by doing this, I was missing powerful lessons that I would learn through the beading process.