You're Hired!
By Amy McClure
11/10/2008 5:32:00 PM
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Expression. I’ve been thinking about that a lot since my last entry. Expression of what, you may ask? Of me, I guess…or respectively, of YOURSELF. I think it started out that way at least. I long to create something that expresses (or just releases) all those whirls and swirls of images and ideas I have in the midst of my day, while I’m are doing something else, typically. What keeps me from working is typically the things I have to do to keep the business, or life in general, running smoothly. I find that for most entrepreneurs, finding time to be creative is the hardest part of running a business, despite how hard we try to ignore our bookkeeping. Some oversimplified questions I like to ask myself are:
What would you do with an entire day/afternoon “off “ ? (That’s a funny concept, isn’t it?)
What is most restful to you today?
Have you noticed any kind of pattern/correlation over the past few weeks…?
What would you like to know more about? A new skill you’d like to learn?
They are simple and pretty nonspecific for a reason…b/c if I can slow down, even for a moment, or a couple of hours one morning, I don’t have to make it more difficult than it already is. I have the opportunity to look outside my day, week, month and think about and dream about the things I want to be different or the things I want to grow in the business and my life. To fuel myself with some kind of newness...Or opportunity for newness to be invited into my sphere.
For some, and myself, I have had to realize my need for help and GET SOME….even if it’s just 5 hours a week. Think of stay at home moms, college students, or even sharing an assistant among several designers to provide them with more hours per week. The E-Myth Revisited, by Gerber should help you with thinking (i.e. convincing you) through this a little more.
Recently, I did hire a girl to work with/for me. Granted, I agonized over hiring help since we moved to the Bean in April and I came up with every excuse imaginable. Seriously…I have trust issues, but that’s a whole other blog entry. Interviewing and hiring someone to come in and look at the unkempt underbelly of my little business has to have been a hundred times more of a pit in my stomach than any interview I have ever been on myself. And now that she’s here, I am kicking myself for not doing it sooner. Totally. Since then, the amount of time I’ve had to concentrate on the things I have dreamed of doing is astounding. The ability to get things done beyond immediate tasks like production/shipping/emailing takes me back to days long forgotten…to the hopes I had 2 years ago that my day could be filled with moments of free time, design epiphanies and the magazine spreads detailing them, not to mention the latest celebrity caught in one of my pieces or the fact that I can enjoy my work again…I should dare dream...*sigh*.
So now that we’ve accepted our need for help, acquired said help, we dream. That’s what we do as entrepreneurs, right? We dream bigger than our day to day. We love the essence of what we’re doing, but let’s be practical: We also long for our efforts to reap respect, money and maybe garner a little praise along the way…oh and I’ll say it, a little jealousy from others too. No harm in that, right? Certainly we can cheer on our fellow designers in much the same way we do as bridesmaids when our friends make it to the altar. But we still want to be the bride for once…
Often times, what fuels new designs and creations are typically from things completely unrelated to my medium. Experiencing and learning new things shows me so much about myself and my processes. So, what would you learn if you had time? Right now, I would learn how to weld. Have you noticed a pattern/correlation of things over the past few weeks? Well, yes I have, in fact. A literal pattern this time…And I would study the historical use of the quatrefoil. (yes, seriously). I’m totally weird like that. I’m not sure how or if I would use those skills in my work, but maybe I could? I went to the MFA here with my studio mate the other night and saw the most amazing art nouveau exhibit…Totally inspiring and easily relatable to my work. And now, I have the time to flesh out my expression of it rather than spend my time in production. Woohoo!
Living in one of the world's most educational cities, I have access to pretty much any type of adult edu class I would like to take...there are even artist 'Skill Share' nights around town, of which I am preparing to partake. I know not everyone has that opportunity, so I invite you to post links for your city's adult education programs/online programs you've found helpful/your own skills you'd like to share in the comments section below!
In Boston, we have (to name a few):
Stonybrook Fine Arts
BCAE
CCAE
Brookline Center
MASSART
SMFA
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Tags: expression, entrepreneur, books, creativity, education, skill share, |
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Categories: Entrepreneurship |
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