Life!

I am a picture framer. I became one by accident. I am self-employed and like it that way. A lot of good things have happened to me by accident or things not being planned.

This got me thinking about how and why things happen. I mean, I could have ended up working for somebody else. However, there was something about me that said I wanted to be self-employed. I didn't know that at the beginning of my employment life but that is how it developed, just naturally. Also, the trajectory I took in life ensured that I did not work for anybody else. When I did work for somebody else it was either temporary or I got fired. I got fired from at least four jobs. And some jobs I applied for I didn't get because I was told I was over qualified. The whole experience was as though it was predetermined that I be independent and work for myself. Perhaps, too, I eventually realized I could not work for anybody else. My calling was to be independent. Events in time confirmed this, that independence was in my blood.

Most likely I got my independence and need to work for myself from my mother. She was independently minded. It was late in her life but she eventually went independent. She started a shop selling things from South America, a continent she became very intrigued with. The shop was called House Of The Americas; La Casa De Las Americas in Spanish. I helped around the shop now and then. As an added attraction my mother began selling paintings with themes of Latin American. They were always sold unframed. And this is what got me thinking about framing, because some people wanted their painting framed. We then introduced framing for those who wanted it.

My mother's store had three different locations; the first two locations were in Toronto's Yorkville district and the third in a small town west of Toronto. That is when I really became involved in her enterprise. I started and ran a cafe in that store. But I felt isolated in this store, in this small town. I wished and wished I had my own store in Toronto, in the city. Lo and behold, as though it was preordained, the opportunity arose.

It was extraordinary how I got my first store in Toronto. I mean, I could never have afforded it or its location if it didn't happen the way it did. I didn't have much money. The store was in a pretty prime location. How it all happened is that my mother had an acquaintance who had a gift shop. This women was wanting out of the gift shop but wasn't about to give it up completely. She suggested that I take over her store, pay the rent and sell her merchandise, and as I did I kept a percentage of sales. There was no startup cost involved for me, so it was like landing in a ready-made situation. I also saw the opportunity to introducing framing into the store because something else was needed to make money and attract people. Another good thing is that there were no framers in the area.

One moral of the story is that I saw an opportunity and wasn't afraid to take it. The opportunity was the store falling in my lap, a store that I had dreamed about. Another good thing is that it all happened with little investment. The biggest investment I made was my buying an air conditioner for the shop. I borrowed money from the bank to buy it. That was the first loan I ever made and that loan established my credit rating. I paid the loan back in three months.

That is one of the nice accidents that happened to me. But really, it was no accident. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was also fortunate to have the wherewithal to sense a good opportunity when it came along and grab it. Ultimately, I made the luck that caused this to happen. But it also came from how I was nurtured and brought up, to have confidence and be prepared.

Not every aspect of this story is unique. But there is uniqueness about it in that it is an individual's story. Is there a philosophy involved? I suppose there is, one of letting things transpire and unfold. Don't force things too much and be realistic.