“Oh, it’s a snap. You just do this, this and this and you’re done.”

Those words are often heard from people who have done a thing a thousand times. They’ve become so proficient at the thing that they don’t remember when it was difficult and they had no real idea just what the hell they were doing. What they don’t tell you is, “Well, except for this.”

Granted, I tend to make things more difficult for myself by beginning a process with the thought in my mind “I’m probably going to screw this up” or “I wonder if I can really do this.” But really, I find most instructions are missing what turns out to be crucial information. That is, if there are actually instructions to begin with.

Getting an Etsy Shop set up was no easy task for me. Parts of it were not too bad. But when it came time to verify my identity, I sort of lost my cool. Not that I had all that much cool to begin with.

At first, I opted to receive an email with a link from Etsy’s partner, Persona, for the verification. I got the link immediately, clicked on it and was routed right back to the page where I asked for the link initially. In a somewhat insane manner, I went through the process again with the same result. After the third time, I gave it up. So maybe I’m not totally insane.

Then I chose the text method. I asked for and received a link through texting on my phone. I clicked the link and was taken to a site that wanted me to choose type of identification and then take a picture of it. I chose my driver’s license and got to the part where I had to take a picture.

It’s a nice set-up. They show a frame that the license is supposed to be within and have an overlay of a person’s head to show you where to be certain your face is centered. A shutter button appeared and I clicked it. Nothing happened, so I clicked it again. And again, and again and again, in rapid succession. Nothing happened. I probably devoted at least 45 minutes to trying various lighting arrangements and backgrounds to no avail thinking maybe that was the problem.

Finally, I gave up and called it a day.

Next day, I went through the whole process again and clicked the shutter button and nothing happened. I was dejected. I was defeated. I felt like screaming.

While I was going through all those emotions, something happened.

Nowhere does it say that there is a ten second delay between tapping the shutter button and the actual photo being taken. Thankfully, while I was feeling all sorts of stupid and incompetent, I did not move my phone and the image was captured.

Then I got a button to upload the photo and a request for a photo of the back of my driver’s license. That went smoothly because now I knew how it worked.

It seems like people who do things day in and day out should be the best at explaining how a process works. They should be able to tell you about any little glitches or oddities you might encounter. But it has been my experience that experienced people are some of the worst at explaining these things.

So anyway, or shop is up and running and I have been busily listing items on it. If you like, you can have a look at it at jewelrybysyzygy.etsy.com

Images courtesy of Rejoicing Hope and A to Z Quotes, respectively

Writing is not my only passion. I also make jewelry. Please visit my home page and hover over SyZyGy Jewelry for stories about my jewelry making journey.