Playing a Different Game Now

Shifting gears, leaving jobs, used to be such a big deal!

Heart wrenching, sleepless nights, grieving over what was left behind, used to be the way change happened in my life. Now, it just feels like I’m playing a different game. Not going in the old direction, keeping up with the old crowd of doing, showing, sharing, selling, opening nights, set ups, take downs, making ends meet. Pulling myself out of that game, and getting excited about a whole new path. It doesn’t seem so terrible to be shifting gears, anymore. Maybe it’s because I’ve done it so many times. Were the first times the toughest, and then it got easier? It’s possible that I’m letting go of what doesn’t work a bit faster than others do. I always felt a business should pay for itself, and when that doesn’t happen, it must be time to move on.

An artist I always admired once said years ago that she wouldn’t be selling at the art shows around Chicago anymore. Astounded, we asked why. She was in the top shows, had a strong following, did great, unique art, and yet she was moving onto a new game. She responded with, ‘Do I keep doing shows until I run out of money?’ Well that’s a thought. Without a second job really bringing in the money, or being independently wealthy, or married to a millionaire, how can even a great artist keep it going? I’ve read that Viggo (Aragorn of the Lord of the Rings) Mortensen’s passion is painting. He shows his work in New York galleries. Very high quality work here! Yet he does movies so that he can continue to paint. He knows how to play the game beautifully!

So we each keep moving along on our paths. Some still finding new ways to make the old way work….skype classes, cross country workshops, personal studios turned into workshop/retreat areas. As long as the passion is there, and the acceptance of the offering as something of value, like chutes & ladders, we keep maneuvering the board until we reach ‘home’. It’s the playing that matters.