This Week's Mindful Morsel 🍪 | December 24, 2025 — mindful advice from a budding potter (part 1)
Happy good Wednesday to your wonderful being đź’ś
I’ve wanted to make ceramics since I was a wee little kid asking for a toy pottery wheel every year for Christmas. This year, I gifted myself the opportunity to explore my dream, and I’ve now been throwing clay at a killer local studio (shout out to Studio 83!) for almost a year.
It’s been quite the adventure — funny, serious, nerve wracking, fantastic, freeing, and an absolute riot. Consider me a lifelong potter now.
I’ve learned a lot about clay and throwing techniques, and surprise, surprise …. they’re all poignant mindfulness bits and bobs, so this week I give you mindful advice from a budding potter.
In the spirit of Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen, I’ll point out that “my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.” And to keep this digestible, I’m breaking this up into 2 parts, so stay tuned for more next week.
For now, I hope you find exactly what you need ✨
Embrace the plot twists. You can have the biggest and grandest of intentions when you start working with a ball of clay, but one small deviation can really put a hitch in your giddyup. Even the most skilled of potters I’ve seen have to pivot. Resituate and get a new perspective. It could be better than you imagined.
Don’t overwork it. Clay can only take some much, just like all of us. A combo of too much water and too much time on the wheel leads to clay not holding a shape and flopping around as sad, aimless potential. The right resources, time, and energy help it become a beautiful piece.
Know when to scrap it. Sometimes, even after trying new things and doing your best, things don’t work out. That clay isn’t rebounding in this moment. It can be reclaimed through a process, but that takes a different set of skills and tools. Sometimes we just have to know when to walk away or recognize that something isn’t a right now task. You can’t make more time but you can reallocate how you spend it.
Avoid unnecessary force. Firm pressure and stabilization are big giant yeses at the pottery wheel, but the moment you start to surpass assertive, your clay is going off center. And physics isn’t your friend with unwieldy clay. Small, confident moves make big magic.
Stay curious. The same hand positions and techniques don’t work the same for everyone. Ask questions and experiment. Expose yourself to new ideas. See what works for you.
Laugh at yourself. Things are going to take a turn. Sometimes clay flies around the wheel or a side caves in. Shit happens. This isn’t a contest to see who can be the best. Don’t take it or yourself too seriously.
I would love to hear how these lands for you, so if you have something you’d like to share, send it my way.
I’ll also be taking some time to revamp publication energy for Zenful Mindings, so after 12/31/25, there will be a pause in regular Mindful Morsels for the foreseeable future. I’m unsure exactly how long, but I plan to give this new project intentional and purposeful energy without rushing. Thank you for your patience and I look forward to sharing new evolutions with you 💜
With all the best energy and gratitude,
