I held him up to the camera so my Mom could see him. We were video chatting, Mom was in Toronto and I’m in Seattle, and she hadn’t heard of Jimothy — our local uniquely shaped wild raccoon that was causing quite the internet sensation. But she could see that my handmade miniature garden version of the little guy simply wasn’t working.

I felt my heart begin to sink. I had already spent 4 hours trying to turn a cat toy into a tiny cultural icon. Ugh – I had an overwhelming urge to say, “forget it,” but with stronger words.

If you’re creative, you know that feeling…

It’s that “Oh My God This is So Stupid” Feeling

If you’ve ever done something creative, you know what I’m talking about. That feeling usually happens in the middle of a project, when you find yourself neck-deep in it and wonder why in the world you ever started it in the first place.

It’s that point where the project is too far along to abandon, but not done enough to feel good yet. It’s the messy middle, the pivotal point of most projects – large and small. It can end buried in a box, or you can finish it. But it takes many names:

• The “messy middle” is from a book by Scott Belsky, the co-founder of Behance.
• Seth Godin calls it “the dip” – about the point in any project where it gets hard and boring and most people quit.
• Also called “the trough of sorrow” or ” the valley of despair.”
• Whatever you call it – it’s a thing that needs to be pushed aside so you can carry on regardless.

Find the right plants parts pieces and patio materials to make your miniature garden dreams come true, up in our store, here.

To Finish or Not to Finish?

I didn’t want Jimothy to end up in a box. At least not yet. He’s supposed to go in one of my miniature gardens. So, why did I pushed through and finished this one project? What was it that motivated me NOT to throw the little guy in a box and go take a nap?

It came down to good old’ a pro and con list. See if you can use this list with your next “messy middle:”

1. I had all the parts already collected. That is usually at least half the battle, right?
2. I was happy with a number of things going right – kinda p- so far.
3. He was a fun, temporary topic that is happening right now – so it really was now or never.
4. I had hours already logged – and I knew I was closer to the end if I just pushed through.
5. No one was making a miniature version at the time so at least mine was a valiant effort… there are mini Jimothys out now that put mine to shame. Ugh.

So, I Finished Him and He Isn’t Stupid.

His tail is too big. His head is too big. His body isn’t short enough. And his legs are weird. Do I care? Nope. Lol!

But what I really did care about was that he was too big for my 1-inch scale mini garden. Doh!

Scale is the thing that trips up more people in this hobby than almost anything else. Here’s a blog post that breaks down the whole one-inch/half-inch/quarter-inch scale system — and why mixing scales breaks the illusion. See it here.

Want to go deeper?

The Miniature Garden Society covers everything gardening in miniature, from learning to build a garden to advanced design techniques and specialized maintenance tips. We are a community of fellow miniature gardeners who love the details as much as you do. Join us at MiniatureGardenSociety.org

Like this? You might like our Mini Garden Gazette newsletter that goes out almost every Friday — tips, inspiration, and subscriber-only discounts, written for miniature gardeners by a miniature gardener. There is nothing else like it. Sign up here.