practice

last week, when awesome papa and i were discussing our budget, we were also discussing our business plans and decided that there are two things we both sort of let by fall by the wayside (his franchise/business consulting and my art).

we went over the reasons and found they were pretty similar even though making (or selling) art and helping people find the right business model are two very different things. in the end, though, it comes down to a fear of rejection. i keep making these pretty awesome things and then i store them away when the little voice in my head starts saying they're not good enough. i quiet the voice by continuing to create but it has an impact because i have yet to put anything up on etsy. i struggle, daily, to overcome the worry that people will laugh at me. that people won't buy my stuff. that people will criticize my technique because i don't have a degree in any kind of art.

however, after talking with awesome papa, it was easier to say, "so what"...so what if they don't like me, so what if no one buys anything, so what if i don't have any formal art training other than a few drawing classes? who cares? it's fun and it should be fun and i shouldn't take it so seriously. it's just practice, afterall. not the end all and be all.

awesome papa came to a similar conclusion about his franchise consulting. he was feeling pretty down about how neglected it had become as he refocused his energy into the cleaning company. i reminded him that the refocus on the cleaning company was completely necessary and that he'd already made two franchise placements, which was better than any of the other consultants he'd started with. i also reminded him that he runs a successful weekly meeting for local professionals facing uncertainty or unemployment. even though the literal payoff for this hardwork is realized maybe only once per quarter, he has already proven that he has what it takes and he can re-direct his attention to consulting when time and the other company allows.

so, instead of approaching this business with such seriousness, he's just going to do what he can every week and "practice" making phone calls in an attempt to reach potential clients.

to practice ones art, no matter if it is visual art or art of a different nature, is all we can do and there is no sense in getting so hung up on the details that we stop practicing altogether.

so his daily goal is to make one phone call. maybe once per week he'll actually make contact, have a conversation that goes somewhere. maybe not.

and my goal is to list at least one thing on etsy per week. and more, as time allows. i will likely kick off this week by listing more than one thing on friday but one per week is a manageable goal. maybe people will like my stuff and buy it. maybe not.