(This is part three in a series on Got Creativity? Here are the links: Part one and Part two.)
(This insallment is combined with Friday Features. Enjoy my shop picks from other Etsy sellers.)
Are you on your way to earning that blue ribbon at the guild show or county fair? Are you at a place where you can take the risk of filling out that first entry form for your favorite piece of creativity?
Once you "reach your stride" in your creative endeavors and once you get over the urge to be technically correct at your craft, then you must decide if you want to risk showing your creations (wares) to others. Oh, it is one thing to show what you have done to your family. Sort of like a child playing their first little clarinet solo in the living room for aunts and cousins. Of course everyone is going to "ooh and awe" over the presentation and give lots of encouragement, but when it comes to that first recital, that is a very different story!
So, once you have "perfected" your craft as we talked about in the previous article
here, you take a risk in presenting it to others, whether that be at a craft show, an entry in a juried show or possibly presenting to wholesale buyers. It is a bit scary to expose your efforts and stand ready to hear comments, endure silence or suffer rejection.
Once we are assured that our own creation is finished and "good" in our own eyes, we can endure the occasional remark or lack of remarks about our work. We have confidence and learn to not take things personally; we progress from a safe semi-closed forum to a risky open show of our own perceived genius. We creators are all in various stages of this process. Accessing where we are and how to proceed is the key.
Are you willing to risk taking the next step?
That is the question.
Next and final article in the series
here.
6 comments:
Great advice - I know I shy away from putting myself out there, but I acknowledge and am working on it!
Following back - love your blog!
Thanks
Angie
godsgrowinggarden.blogspot.com
Our priest gave an awesome homily about taking the next step a few weeks ago. It's such an important message! It's challenged me to consider that in multiple aspects of my life lately. Great job with this topic.
Risk is truly unavoidable in life, but it does seem that we have some control over how much we're willing to take. A risk-free life would be boring and without meaning. Growth does not occur without risk. The shoot underground takes a risk of being frozen or scorched or stepped on or eaten if it rises above the ground. But it it doesn't rise, it will never bloom.
great topic, Linda!
That's one of the hardest lessons to learn when creating- to separate yourself enough emotionally from each piece so that you can both withstand criticism, and see what's actually there. So true.
That is a hard thing to learn and a difficult bridge to cross over and over again!
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