Well, today I went off the high dive for sure!
I just launched my new affiliate program called The Organized Artist Big Fan Club (learn more here: http://sambennett.wpengine.com/about-us/big-fan-club/) and I gotta say – I feel excited but mostly I feel very, very exposed.
It’s unnerving to put your self and your work front and center.
We worry what other people will think. (As though we had any control over what other people think.)
We worry that it’s all about ego. (Believe me, if all we wanted was ego-gratification, there are LOTS of easier ways to go about it.)
We worry that it won’t work. (But there’s no way of finding out if it will work without trying it – and failure is a wonderful, wonderful teacher.)
So once you’ve done your homework and you’ve prepped and proofed as much as you can, there’s nothing for it but to take a deep breath, bend your knees and JUMP!
And what felt like terror will turn into EXHILARATION.
YAY!
We all have projects that we know would make an enormous difference in our lives.
Good projects.
Important projects.
World-changing projects.
And they’re just sitting there, staring at us.
The good news is that you’re still thinking about it, which means you have DESIRE.
So just for a minute, quit beating yourself up about how or what you should have done by now. (Can you? Just for a minute?) Now, let’s tap in to the energy that’s inside that desire.
Take a deep breath and really feel the sweet yearning for your Great Idea rising up from your belly. Allow the JOY of your Great Idea to fill your heart and spirit. Focusing only on the yummy-ness of it, let your Great Idea be reborn in your mind, fresh and new, without any judgment or recrimination.
Stay in that joyful feeling for just another moment, and see if a little, tiny action-item occurs to you. Is there a little idea that just floats into your head? A little beginning? If not, that’s OK – now might not be the right time – so just relish that Great Idea of yours and move on with your day.
But you might let the divine energy that is contained within your desire inspire you to take one, eensy-tiny only-15 minutes action around your Great Idea.
And let me know how it goes, OK?
Ode To The Small Business Practitioner, or, Oh, You American Dreamer
And as you stand there
Wondering
About your Search Engine Optimization and
Curious if this new Seminar might really be of some help and
Kicking Yourself A Little for all the Work that is piling up as we speak
Let us now praise you.
You, the Wondering, the Curious, the Kicking Yourself A Little.
You, the Founder, President, CEO, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer who WILL
Double your sales this year.
You, the American Dreamer.
You are made of stern stuff.
You hopped off the Merry-Go-Round
(or maybe you were pushed)
And now you live in this New World of
Checking Google Analytics and
Waking up with a Great Idea at 4am and
Telling your family: Yes, I’ll be right there – I just have to do this
One
Quick
Thing.
And while you may grimace when you hear your friends say,
“Wow, it must be great to work in your pajamas” and
“Wow, it must be so great to be your own boss” and
“Wow, are you lucky!”
It’s true.
It is great to work in your pajamas and
Be your own boss and
Yes
You are lucky.
Lucky to be here now in this time of Unprecedented Opportunity.
Lucky to have this passion for Your Work.
And even though you might start making
Hysterical Hyena-like Sounds the next time some Pessimist mutters, “Well, in this Economy…” and even though
The Loneliness of being The Boss can sometimes be a hot, shimmering desert of aching solitude and
Even though
Even though
Even though…
You wouldn’t have it any other way because
Now you know what you did not know before.
Now you know:
Always. Back. Up.
And now you know:
Always have someone proofread, especially the dates and the phone numbers.
And now you know:
Always test all the Action Links
(And don’t just hit the “send test” button because I think that sends from a different server so you need to actually create a “find people” test list made up of dummy addresses that you set up in Yahoo and Gmail and your own webmail and, if you have to, even AOL, so you can see what people are actually getting in both HTML and Text-Only – trust me, it’s totally worth the hassle.)
And now you know:
Always trust your instincts. Always.
Because it is your instincts that have
Brought you this far and
It is your instincts that will
See you safe home.
So dream on, you Gladiators of the Kitchen Table.
And as soon as you can figure out
What the hell API integration actually is,
I have no doubt that you will do it.
You are living The Dream.
You are living Our Dream.
Long live this Vibrant, Gritty, Hard-Fought, Hard-Won, Capricious, Eclectic, Heart-Pounding, Soul-Stirring, Headache-Inducing, Detail-Oriented, Incessant, Unstoppable, Terrifying, Tantalizing,
Who-Needs-A-Penthouse-Of-Chrome-And-Glass-
When-Dad’s-Old-Chevy-Runs-Just-Great?
Why-Don’t-They-Teach-This-Stuff-In-School?
Jump-On-In-The-Water’s-Fine and
I’m-Sure-Next-Quarter-Will-Be-Better and this is
So-Much-Harder-Than-I-Could-Have-Thought
So-Much-Better-Than-I-Ever-Could-Have-Imagined
Heartfelt
(Bloodied But Unbowed)
American Dream.
© 2010 Sam Bennett I All Rights Reserved
By The Way, You Look Really Great Today
Creative people get called selfish more than almost anyone else I know. But I have a secret: I believe that a person calls an artist “selfish” because that person is mad that the artist won’t do something that the person wants them to do.
For example:
Billy is feeling uncertain and lonely and wants Sally’s attention. Sally’s mind is on other things, like maybe her novel or her gallery opening or her rehearsal. Billy gets a little peeved, and then maybe he gets angry and then he accuses Sally of being selfish. Billy calls Sally “selfish” because Sally is not doing what Billy wants Sally to do.
And in just such a way, artists are muffled.
(Sometimes you’ll hear some condescending theories about why there are so few great female artists in history. I maintain that there have been countless great female artists throughout history, but most of them never got a chance to do their work because the minute someone called them “selfish” they caved.)
So, people might call you selfish when you are not fulfilling their desires. Even if it’s a desire for you; a desire they are having on your behalf. In other words, a parent who’s concerned about their child “wasting” their education on a career in the arts might call that child “selfish.”
I would guess that there is some part of you that really, truly wants to fulfill other people’s desires.
Particularly the desires of your family and loved ones. And fulfilling other people’s desires is a fine activity, especially when you can do so with a full and generous spirit.
And there’s probably some part of you that couldn’t care two figs about what everyone else desires for you. That’s good – let’s cultivate that part a little bit. Not constantly, of course. Constantly putting your own desires ahead of everyone else’s really is selfish. If you’re in the habit of doing that, you should cut it out.
People love to call artists “selfish” because art is self-expression. Art is perhaps the ultimate self-expression. By definition, it has absolutely nothing to do with what other people want.
So by reading this blog, by committing to your art, by trying some of the exercises and opening yourself to some new ways of thinking about the work you love, you are being selfish: in the very best, highest possible meaning of that word.
And if the idea of being selfish freaks you out, think of it this way: time spent on your art makes you a better, happier, more fulfilled, more interesting person. And giving the gift of you as happy, interesting person to your family and friends is the very opposite of selfish.
Plus, we haven’t even gotten to the part about how much the art you create will help the world.
Have you been called “selfish”? Do you worry that you might be perceived as selfish? How do you handle that?
