And My 35th Year Arrives
I am looking at ways to become a better version of myself. Whether this is as an artist, in my day job or in my personal life, it is something I generally strive towards. Sometimes my attempts to become a better version of myself do not actually make me a better version. Sometimes my attempts are completely in vain.
However one of the ways that I strive to be a better version of myself is that every year around my birthday I look at the past year, take a moment of gratitude, and then set some goals for the next year. In an attempt to have some accountability I also share those goals with you. So Cheers! to my annual birthday post.
What a year the last year has been. I am so grateful to have a fiance who completely supports the things I chose to do in life. Even when it means giving up alcohol, dairy, sugar, wheat, caffeine, beef, pork, and well nearly everything right at the beginning of summer. Which has me thinking about my first goal for the next year.
1. CONNECT MORE
My fiance is a mental health therapist and in nature is comfortable making connections with people. Myself however definitely falls into that awkward category of artist that DW Winnicott spoke about in the quote below. The reality is though, that producing and selling art is all about connecting. I also recently got on the app Voxer and have been sharing instant voice messages with my friends and I will admit that it has drastically changed our friendships. We are by far more connected than we have previously been. Most importantly I have learned that I need this connection in my life.
2. SHOW UP AND BE SEEN
I did a Braid Creative webinar this week on branding. Not only was the webinar exceptional, (I would totally do the full course if I was not paying for a wedding in September) but something that Kathleen Shannon said during the webinar really sunk in for me. She said Show Up and Be Seen. It has been such a year of transition for me that I have only really been painting. Literally to the point that I have a giant stack of paintings just waiting to be hung up and shown. If I want to do this full time, which I do, I need to step up to the plate and be seen. That is really scary for me. It feels really vulnerable to me. Which is something I am actively working towards. It also leads me to my third and final goal for my 35th year of life.
3. ASK FOR HELP
I am terrible at this. So bad in fact that my fiance bought me Amanda Palmers book The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help. Something that really stuck out to me from Amanda's book is the concept of art as a reciprocal process. I have spent so much time painting without really having a plan as what to do with the paintings when I am done. That is where Amanda's book comes into to play. It is time for me to start asking for help. Finding somewhere to hang my art and asking people to buy it. That is a scary process but is ultimately a necessary process.
I have to be honest with you these three goals actually give me butterflies. There is so much depth and discomfort involved that I cannot help but know these changes are necessary. Not only for me personally but for me professionally. I am always interested to know what goals you are working on? Are you focused on something that genuinely makes you feel nervous? Let me know!!
With Love,
Kirista