Between Science and Craftsmanship

On one side, my love for studying, especially for almost all scientific subjects, and on the other, my love for handmade crafts.

My passion for studying was a natural process, born in school and growing throughout the years, all the way to university.

My love for craftsmanship, however, began by chance but was deliberately and ardently cultivated over time.

In a country like ours, it's natural to follow what one believes to be the path that will open as many "doors" as possible, career-wise.

Unfortunately, or perhaps not, I have always preferred to pursue my passions.

Unconcerned by the difficulty I would have in finding employment and driven by the enthusiasm typical of twenty-year-olds, I embarked on a real obstacle course: the world of scientific research.

And so, you who are reading will at this point say, slow down, slow down, but what does craftsmanship have to do with it? How did you go from reviewing vaccine batches to designing and producing handmade jewelry?

The two paths have actually always proceeded in parallel; craftsmanship has been a hobby since I was 15, and the world of accessories and jewelry in particular has always fascinated me. I continued to study, try, and experiment in this field as well.

Let's just say that, from a very specific moment onwards, these two paths took completely opposite directions; while my confidence and enthusiasm for studying and for the path it had outlined for me slowly waned after disappointing work experiences, my passion for craftsmanship grew exponentially.

On one side, a secure job, which might eventually have led to the much-coveted "permanent position," but which only had to do with my degree on paper and which, for me, held no excitement.

On the other side, an uncertain job. Without a steady salary to cling to, but one that smelled of freedom, of starting over, of enthusiasm, after so long of not feeling it anymore.

 

And after several "no's" I said, hoping for an always better job offer that, in fact, would never come, because I was the first one not to be convinced by that path, after hours and hours of reflection, after the despair of thinking I had disappointed the people who had believed in me, I decided to try to be happy, to try to build something of my own, with my own strength and my own determination.

I took my hobby, the only thing that still brought me joy and that still excited me, if not more than before, and I bet everything on it. 

I chose to tell you about my journey in the first article of this blog, to help you understand a little better who is behind what you will find on this site, but also for another equally important reason: a message of encouragement to those who have found themselves, are finding themselves, or will find themselves in a similar situation to mine, given the very particular period, from a professional point of view, that our country is going through.

 

Simply because changing course, not meeting others' expectations, deciding to be something different from what we had set out to be, does not mean failure.

 

It can be painful to do so, the choice is not easy, but if life takes an unexpected turn, we must see in this turn new possibilities, not disappointments or failures, but opportunities for renewal, for happiness, for new challenges and new knowledge, for new satisfactions.

 

 

My motto is “You reap what you sow”.  

And what could be more beautiful than sowing something entirely our own? It's worth all the effort, and more!

  Thank you for reading this far ❤️

Melania