Networking and Sharing
Growth can be a product of sharing!
Why do you share all you have learned and your hard work?
What do you expect to happen when you do?
Sharing what we know is a great way to grow.
Years ago, I knew an artist that was afraid to teach students. She thought they would take her ideas, what she planned, and create work to compete with her work.
As she taught more, she learned that teaching what she knew helped her own work. She found she could work out things in her own mind while teaching those students.
She progressed faster by giving away what she already knew. She was then able to continue at home working on those new ideas that came to her when teaching.
A side benefit of this was that she made a name for herself by teaching while growing as an artist. Her work was stunning, different, beautifully constructed, and resonated with the viewer. She is still sought after to take workshops and classes with.
Networking! Can it help you as well?
I don’t know what I would do without all the artist friends I have made over the years. They keep me sane.
Even if it is not the same as mine, the people who do creative work know exactly how I live my life. What I mean by that is how we have two lives.
We have a somewhat everyday life with family and friends. Sometimes our life of creativity may require odd hours or events that we have to attend regardless of what our family life is doing. Those are just two of the things that wreak havoc in our life!
I have often said, “my life is not my own at times.” I am sometimes like that little ball in the pinball machine. I ricochet, batted from one spot to another, bouncing off objects, and hoping I come out alive with no injuries!
Or like someone who juggles, keeping several balls in the air simultaneously. Heaven forbid I let one of them drop! Then I might miss an important deadline… creating some agony, but not really life-threatening.
Analogies are wonderful to describe how I live the life of an artist.
So many sides to being an artist!
Being an artist is the working title of the book I am writing.
People think we live a life with no strategy, goals or timeline maybe. Nothing is further from the truth. I believe weaving artistic life with daily life may be hectic but also meaningful.
How is your strategy in tune with life? Woven bits of my passion intersect with the daily activities and hopefully improve both parts. Each one informs the other.
Growth and emotional connections keep me going!
If you think you have limitations, I am sure you do. If you make excuses, you haven’t learned how to turn that excuse into a positive. Limitations and excuses find a way to keep you negative. What you do with them can propel you further in your growth!
I read the following in a newsletter by Eric Rhoads quite some time ago. It is what inspired me to start this post. Below the quote is a link to the newsletter he wrote. Check him out if you don’t already know about him.
“Most limitations and excuses are not real. They are simply sharks swimming around inside your head.”
