Other People’s Words

Today I will link you to the words of my friends who have fabulous insights that resonate with me.

LifeUnity offers a great perspective that is a breather from the six-figure lifestyle hype we hear all the time.

 “I feel successful because I began with awareness,
not with expectation.
I am aware of my own inner callings
and sourcing my work from there.
I am aware the world needs so much more
than another financially-successful entrepreneur.”
~ From LifeUnity 

We must make sure that we pursue our own true calling, rather than pursuing a paycheck.

By the way, I found Chris Guillebau’s “The Art of Nonconformity” to be a perception-changer for me with regard to not needing $1 million to appear to start to live the life I truly wanted to live. There are ways to pursue your passion in creative ways, without having a magic number of funds in the bank.

At the same time, there is nothing wrong with funding one’s calling through other means. My art is not sustainable as a full-time business yet. It is funded by my savings, which I am supplementing with freelance work. Princess Lasertron offers great advice and affirmation that pursuing that additional income is by no means a detraction of “living the dream.”

“Doing other work is not selling out. It doesn’t have to crush your soul.
If you’re saving money to start a new business,
you have to get money somehow!
And if you already run your own business, there’s absolutely
no shame in getting some extra income on the side when you need it.
If chances come up to get some work, take them.”
~ Princess Lasertron 

I need that reminder myself on occasion, when I feel my art business isn’t successful enough (yet) and I feel materialistic for pursuing an affluent lifestyle rather than taking the “starving artist” route. However, being pragmatic is key in being an entrepreneur. As much as we pin our hopes on “do what you love and the money will follow,” “follow” is the operative word here. It takes time. Pixar took 5 years before it released its first movie, costing investor Steve Jobs $1 million each year before Toy Story came out.

Meanwhile I get messages that tell me to cater to my target market, that if my customers aren’t buying what I have, I should sell them what they want. As I try to figure out what exactly my target market is, and how to find them, another voice tells me to stick to my own intuition and insights. Amidst that conflict, my friend Bridgette posted the following:

“How do I get my meaning across? 
And I don’t mean to the audience.
That’s a whole separate issue and not one that I actually think about too much when I am working.
People are going to look at my paintings and
come to their own conclusions and read their own meanings into it.”
~ Bridgette Guerzon Mills 

Mostly, with all these messages out there, the key is to take a deep breath and check in with yourself on how you feel about your journey. Kelly Rae Roberts illustrates this perfectly with this print.

Follow your intuition, always! Even if you don’t do so right away, I find that the universe will teach you its lesson anyway, and nudges you toward your very individual and unique life calling until you get it.