What If It Works Out Better Than Expected?

I came across this quote recently that stopped me in my tracks:

I am very good at overthinking.

Unfortunately, I usually take it in the opposite direction.

I can turn one small uncertainty into a whole collection of possible disasters before I’ve even finished my coffee. What if no one likes the new piece? What if the stone choice is wrong? What if the collection doesn’t come together the way I pictured it? What if I spend days making something only to discover that it simply doesn’t work?

My brain is remarkably creative when it comes to worst-case scenarios.

But this quote made me wonder: what would happen if I gave the best-case scenario the same amount of attention?

What if the piece turns out even better than the sketch?

What if the stone I’m unsure about becomes the detail that makes the entire design work?

What if the collection connects with someone in a way I never expected?

What if the idea I nearly talked myself out of becomes a favorite?

That last one has happened more than once.

Making jewelry involves a surprising amount of uncertainty. There is the practical kind—whether a solder joint will behave, whether the metal will move the way I want it to, whether the stone will look right once it is set. Then there is the quieter kind that comes after the piece is finished.

Will anyone understand what I was trying to create?

Will it find its person?

It is easy to treat uncertainty as a warning sign. But uncertainty also leaves room for something wonderful to happen.

Every new design begins with not knowing.

I don’t always know exactly how the finished piece will look. I don’t know which little bench experiment will lead somewhere interesting. I don’t know who will eventually wear it or what it might mean to her.

And maybe that is not something I need to solve before I begin.

Perhaps overthinking doesn’t have to disappear entirely. I’m not sure mine ever will. But I can at least try to send it in a different direction.

Instead of asking only, “What if this goes wrong?” I can also ask:

What if it works?

What if it turns out better than I imagined?

What if this becomes the beginning of something I can’t quite see yet?

That seems like a much more hopeful place to start.

And possibly a far more interesting one.