In one cheerful and sun-drenched artist's workshop, where paint and drying clay filled the air with their scent, there lay on a wooden shelf one small, gray Clay Lump. She wasn't round, nor was she angular. She was simply... a lump. All around her stood finished, beautiful creations on the shelves. Tall vases with painted flowers, bowls smooth as mirrors, and cheerful animal figurines that seemed ready to come to life at any moment.
The Clay Lump looked at them sadly. "Oh," she sighed so quietly that only the dust dancing in the sunbeams could hear her. "If only I could be something too. Like that elegant cat with long whiskers. Or at least a small candy bowl." She felt so ordinary and shapeless.
Just then, the workshop door opened with a soft creak and a little girl with honey-colored hair ran in. She had a blue paint smudge on her cheek and was smiling from ear to ear. Her name was Lina.
Her eyes swept over the shelves full of finished pieces, but then they stopped. She looked directly at the gray, sad Clay Lump. "Hello! You're exactly who I was looking for!" she exclaimed joyfully.
The Clay Lump trembled with surprise. "M-me?" she whispered in disbelief.
"Of course! Today we're going to have an adventure together," said Lina, gently taking the Clay Lump into her palms and carrying her to a large work table. Her palms were warm and the Clay Lump suddenly felt a little less lonely.
"First we need to do some stretching," Lina laughed and began kneading and pressing the Clay Lump. At first it seemed strange to the Clay Lump, it tickled a little, but then she realized it was actually pleasant. She felt Lina pressing small air bubbles out of her.
"We do this," Lina explained patiently, "so you don't have any air in your belly. That could trouble you in the hot kiln and you might crack."
The Clay Lump understood. Lina didn't want to trouble her, but to prepare her to be strong. She felt firmer and more flexible.
Then Lina carried her to a special machine with a flat spinning wheel. "This is a potter's wheel," Lina introduced it to her. "Ready to dance?"
She placed the Clay Lump exactly in the center of the wheel and pressed a pedal with her foot. The wheel began to spin. Slowly at first, then faster and faster.
"Whoa, I'm getting dizzy!" squeaked the Clay Lump. Everything around her blurred into colorful streaks. Lina just smiled and sprinkled her with a little water. Her hands suddenly gently touched the Clay Lump's sides.
"Don't be afraid, I'm holding you," she whispered.
Lina pressed her fingers into the Clay Lump's center and she began to grow upward. From an ordinary lump she was becoming a bowl! "Look! I'm growing!" the Clay Lump rejoiced and felt wonderful. She wanted to be as beautiful as possible. But in that excitement she leaned a little more to one side. Lina tried to straighten her, but it was too late. The bowl wobbled and... crash! With a quiet splat it collapsed and all that remained was a flat, wet pancake.
"Oh no," sighed the Clay Lump shamefully. "You see? I'm no good. I'll just remain a blob."
However, Lina shook her head. She wiped her off the wheel, rolled her into a ball again and said: "That doesn't matter at all! Everyone learns. Even the best potter didn't make their first bowl perfect. Let's try again!"
Her cheerful voice gave the Clay Lump courage. "Really?"
"Of course! This time let's try something tall. How about a vase?" suggested Lina and placed the Clay Lump on the wheel again.
This time she was more careful. The Clay Lump grew slowly and surely, higher and higher. She felt slender and elegant, just like those vases on the shelf. "I'm almost there!" she thought proudly. But as she grew, she also became thinner. Her top began to shake dangerously like jelly.
"Careful, you're too thin!" Lina warned her, but the Clay Lump, in her desire for height, didn't listen. And then it happened. Her top bent over and she began to lean to one side.
"Help, I'm falling!" she cried and with another crash turned back into a shapeless mass of clay.
The Clay Lump was utterly miserable. Two attempts and two failures. She was almost crying. "Maybe I'm not meant to be something beautiful," she whispered.
Lina gently took her into her palms again. "You know what, Clay Lump? Maybe we're trying too hard to be like something else. What if you weren't a bowl or a vase? What if you were simply yourself? Like a cheerful mug for hot cocoa?"
Lina placed her on the wheel for the third time. This time the Clay Lump didn't feel pressure to be perfect. She just let herself be guided by Lina's hands and the dance of the wheel. Lina shaped her into a nice, sturdy form. She wasn't perfectly straight. On one side she had a small, chubby belly.
Lina laughed. "Look, you have such a sweet face!" And then she attached a small handle to her that looked like the Clay Lump was waving to someone.
The Clay Lump looked at her reflection in a water droplet on the wheel. She wasn't elegant or perfectly symmetrical. She was a bit crooked, a bit chubby, but... she was cheerful. She was unique. She felt happy. This was her.
"I like it!" she exclaimed joyfully. "This is me!"
Lina carefully lifted her from the wheel and placed her on a shelf to dry. The Clay Lump, now a Mug, looked around the workshop. Next to her stood perfect vases and bowls, but she no longer envied them. She understood that her journey wasn't about becoming a perfect shape. It was about the dance on the wheel, about falls and getting back up, about patient hands and the joy of creation.
After several days, when the Mug had dried properly and warmed up in the hot kiln, Lina painted her. On her chubby face she painted a big yellow sun that was smiling.
From then on, the cheerful Mug was Lina's favorite. Every morning she poured hot cocoa into her and her imperfect, waving handle always cheered her up.
The Mug knew that the most beautiful shape isn't the one that's flawless, but the one that holds a story within and was created with love and joy. And maybe you too have such a cheerfully imperfect mug at home, which is precisely why it's the best one in the world.