Is this legible?

[Cherie Lee]

To end the suspence, the egg is finished.  But what kind of story would tell the end first? 

A bit of background color to set the stage (for both new and old to the post):  being a strange and probably lonely child with seemingly idle hands and a quirky imagination,  I carved a heart shape out of the side of a chicken egg straight from the fridge when I was maybe 14 or 15.  I drilled a bunch of holes with a drill bit (no drill, we didn't have one), and popped it out,  building a tiny mountain lake scene inside.   Strange child.   Fast forward.   Sadly it took until young adulthood for me to even find out there were other people who made eggs.   (I never knew it was actually "a thing", but there's a whole universe out there).  By then I at least had a dremel, but when I learned about using a dental drill to do what no other tool could?   Oh my god I was in love!  But for 20 years, I only *knew* of them, never so much as saw one in the wild.  Then, last summer, my husband got me one and suddenly unicorns were real,  and I saw the world in technicolor again.   I became permanently disabled when my children were little, now they're in college, so I am ready to run amok and Storm the Scene.

So,  to get to the point,  the photos here are of the 1st egg I carved with my new golden unicorn, (an 18"diameter ostrich egg that took 9 months from start to finish [but that included learning the principles of Chinese writing lol],  taken the day I finished the final cuts.  

Front

Back

Right side

Left side

 

I have a few more pictures, including top and bottom, (might also be in earlier post), but not many more.   I was planning on posted the fully edited video of the completed piece,  but here's where the story flips. ...

[Shelley]

Very beautiful, I am lost for words to describe how amazing it is. Such a fragile thing to make such an ornate piece of art work.

 

Well done and it was worth all the hard work.

[Cherie Lee]

Well in the end it turned out that my partner of 13 years was not sharing my same vision of success in storming the scene that I was raving about the entire time I was working. Turns out he wanted me to stay disabled and dependent upon him. He smashed the egg and took the drill away. My son's and I are now living on my brother so far in another state. No egg, no home, no drill to make a career with, no shit.

[Cherie Lee]

So,  the egg is finished all right,  and so is the budding success story. 

Now *that's* a story with an unexpected twist

[Cherie Lee]

But I wanted to thank all of my friends here,  for all of your knowledge that you shared so freely and willingly,  as well as all your kind words and encouragement.   You made it an amazing experience, so I owed you all the finale, even if it's not the one I set out to offer

 

[Shelley]

Now that's a sad story,  what can I say except pick yourself up, get another egg and another drill and start again. Let it be a boost to make you get another home., another life. don't stop being creative, you have the ability to create beautiful things don't let one mean person stop you being you and enjoying life.

 

And on the positive side you do have pictures to remind you of what you can do and how one ending can be a new beginning.

 

Stay strong and I hope your family around you now, will give you the support you need.

 

 

[Tomsima]

I remember seeing your posts about this project last year and thinking how great it was that you were willing to do it properly and learn the principles of Chinese writing in order to bring this to life. An amazing feat, and the end product is (was?) really fantastic.

 

The ending kind of reminds me of the old chinese folk in the parks here who paint beautiful calligraphy in water on the ground. The first time i saw it I sat for hours watching one old man writing large grass script characters. Just as he was finished, it rained. I felt heart broken, but I saw the old man just pick up his brush and bag and walk off. The next week I saw him back again, this time it was a sunny day, and I sat with confidence watching him write again. But the sun dried out the characters before he could finish writing. The old man just kept writing. Then I finally understood why he was writing.

[陳德聰]

Thank you for sharing those beautiful pictures of your beautiful work. I am feeling a bit sick at reading that your piece was destroyed and your life has been upended. But I am glad you are safe. I’m a bit on the younger side so I don’t have much sage wisdom but I am sending positive thoughts and hoping for a new beginning for you that takes you somewhere better.

[Lu]

That is so beautiful, I have no words. Amazing that you can make something like that of something so fragile and at the same time so mundane as an egg.

 

I'm so sorry for how your life has been upended. I hope you are at least safe and reasonably comfortable at your brother's, and that you can pick up again. It's a pity about the egg and the drill, but your ability to make something so gorgeous you still have. Both the work you put into it and the result are truly amazing.

[imron]

13 hours ago, Cherie Lee said:

No egg, no home, no drill to make a career with, no shit.

That egg is amazing and I'm sure I'm not the only one to think you have a talent for it.

 

How much does a drill cost?  Maybe try starting up a gofundme or something similar to replace your drill.

 

Include enough pictures of some of the art you've created, post a link here and on other forums (I'm sure there are probably forums dedicated to drilling/carving) and see where it leads!

[Lu]

2 minutes ago, imron said:

How much does a drill cost?  Maybe try starting up a gofundme or something similar to replace your drill.

Or maybe call a few dentists in your area, to ask if they have an old drill you could buy from them cheaply? Or is it not that kind of dental drill?

[Cherie Lee]

There is so much I would like to say to each of you, but I will start with the most important stuff:

My children and I are safe, warm, loved, and fortunate beyond words.  We knew this before, and there's not a moment we forget it.  Every night ends with a huge heartfelt Thank You, because there is zero end to the things to be grateful for.  (Granted, I would rather be in a place in life where I can reach my hand down, rather than up, but the see-saw shifts, and when I'm there again I will do more with it than I did last time.  Mostly because I'll be able to recognize it more clearly, so in a way I was given the gift of sight).

I resent the hurdles, because...well, I'm human; and they're hurdles.  But I couldn't stop moving or striving in that direction if I tried, despite the feeling of slogging through molasses.  Someday It might be the opposite problem, and the career is moving too fast, lol.  At least I've shown myself that I am worthy of the drill (right, Imron? Please say right!), and my first priority (parallel with taking care of the kids, housing, life, etc) is to get one again.  Oh, I confess to a tangy bitterness about it, because it's expense is an impossibility for the foreseeable future, and it really does feel like a cruel smack of fate after already waiting so long for it.  But I will never regret haveing held it, and I will always love that one.  But heck, I couldn't honestly even afford the eggs just now!  Although I do have one, still, all ready to go.  And ideas for new ones keep filling my notebook.  So I've decided to strive to get one ostrich egg a month (call it an investment), and I will put it on a shelf and stare at it.  It will design itself as I watch, and stare back at me accusingly for not bringing it to.  Then the next month, another will join it.  And every month after that.  A growing, pressing reminder, spurring me.  So I have been given the gift of drive.  And I'll be ready to hit the ground running.

I didn't know all that my creativity and success were being undermined this whole time.  This *I* was being undermined, and weighted down.  I thought it was me.  I have certainly been given the gift of freedom.  It is now my responsibility to determine what to do with it.  No pressure, but we each set examples, and I'd prefer mine to be good ones.  I'm funny like that.  After all, grace is a character trait I seem to hold dear (or at least one I admire from afar!)

Shelley and Lu, you two have been with me from the start, and I have valued your guidance all long, as I now value your encouragement.  But I'm afraid I have to disagree on one small point, Shelley: It's not a sad story at all.  Its just not the one we were expecting (oww, oww, oww). I'm sure there's a profound lesson in there somewhere, but I'm a simple girl, lol.

 Tomsima, wow.  First off, thank you for your opening paragraph.  You remind me that the knowledge obtained through this whole event is one of the most important things gained, and it branches off in so many glorious directions.  I feel very good about dipping my toes in that deep pool, and was met with such a positive, inviting and encouraging welcome that I took it instantly to heart, and that drew me in closer.  The *passion* of the topic was immediately recognizable, and made me want more, and want to know more.  Ah-ha!  Previously unrecognized bonus: the gift of thirst and hunger.  As long as you have thirst and hunger, you are rich beyond coin.  (it mat be a step beyond, but Satiety could be Death...has that feel, just saying).

But I have to say, sir, that if the story you told was not a Chinese Fable of old told in first-person, but rather a first-hand experience, then it was a moment of your life that I would have heartily enjoyed having experienced beside you, because it oozes the sublime, the contemplative, and the profound.  I imagine it as having been as beautiful, and visual, and calming as the retelling of it was for me just now.  A treasure to have witnessed.

 

And so, my friends, perhaps some day an old, dusty notification might creak up on your newest phone; a hazy reminder of a supporting role you played in a murky scene on a vaguely remembered stage, quick glimpses of other players you hadn't thought of in some time.  You might struggle to recall how the play began, but you'll have that nagging feeling that the end left you sad, you think, but in a Gift of the Magi sort of way, where you feel perhaps the lessons of it were somehow still graceful and beautiful, and the affecting ripples of pain that radiated out from it somehow added to the shimmering purity of it.

That notification will be me, letting you know it hasn't ended yet.   That it may still end well, and happily.  But that it served its purpose.  And that you played a powerful part, and helped make good things happen.
For all you've given, I aim to give back the world:

 

[Shelley]

So good to see you smiling, now I do believe its not a sad story. I think the next egg will be eggcellent sorry but I feel happier now.

 

Maybe you should collect a few eggs on your shelf but then instead of buying an egg put the cost of the egg in a jar next to the eggs until there is enough to buy a drill.

 

After all a shelf full of eggs and no drill is just a shelf of eggs but  a few eggs and a drill in the hands of artist like you will turn that egg into a thing of beauty.

 

I will remember when the next notification from you pops up, and will eagerly open it and hope to see another masterpiece.

 

I won't say goodbye, but 再见 (see you again)

[Lu]

I know I'll be happy to receive that notification. I hope you can pick up your life again and then make another beautiful egg!