So I ended last week absolutely LIVID about my art career and, well, honestly about the other priorities which put it, once again, on the back burner.
(Even several soaks in a bubble bath did not solve this issue).
Due to some family illnesses and continued viewing of our FOR SALE (for 4 months) home, I missed 2 deadlines for exhibitions I had been INVITED into in Chicago. I can't even tell you the crushing weight of this - here is another example of how artists-mothers have to make choices that can damage their careers (or, at the very least, stall them).
No, I am not resentful of the other priorities. These are two separate issues - when they collide it is just like being torn in two or drawn and quartered. So, to maintain some level of sanity - you just have to let one or the other go.
So, I BUILD A BRIDGE AND GET OVER IT.
The moment I decided to release myself from those two deadlines was exquisitely freeing. I still mourn those opportunities, but I know that I made the right decision for myself, my family members, and my conscience.
I am proud I was able to stand back and, even though I was emotionally involved, I made a correct choice.
One of the processes I use in my life is the 5-5-5 question:
How will this decision effect my life in 5 minutes, 5 months, and 5 years?
The one difference for me is that I have to weigh two issues side-by-side, so in 5 minutes I will be devastated that I missed the deadlines and in 5 minutes I will be on the phone making a Dr's appointment; in 5 months I will have 2 less national exhibitions on my resume and I will have less exposure for my art, thus missing many opportunities AND in 5 months my family members will be healthy and cared for and know that I put them first; in 5 years my career will probably have absorbed the setback of missing these exhibitions and in 5 years these family members will have forgotten my choice (maybe even by 5 months), but overall I hope they absorb the fact that I am there ALWAYS, no matter what - and that is worth more to me than anything.
And here is another bonus, I am actually VERY PROUD of myself. I feel I have made a choice of integrity and that, in the end, that stance will be returned to me tenfold or one hundredfold from the art universe.
For Art's Sake,
Sher
(Even several soaks in a bubble bath did not solve this issue).
Due to some family illnesses and continued viewing of our FOR SALE (for 4 months) home, I missed 2 deadlines for exhibitions I had been INVITED into in Chicago. I can't even tell you the crushing weight of this - here is another example of how artists-mothers have to make choices that can damage their careers (or, at the very least, stall them).
No, I am not resentful of the other priorities. These are two separate issues - when they collide it is just like being torn in two or drawn and quartered. So, to maintain some level of sanity - you just have to let one or the other go.
So, I BUILD A BRIDGE AND GET OVER IT.
The moment I decided to release myself from those two deadlines was exquisitely freeing. I still mourn those opportunities, but I know that I made the right decision for myself, my family members, and my conscience.
I am proud I was able to stand back and, even though I was emotionally involved, I made a correct choice.
One of the processes I use in my life is the 5-5-5 question:
How will this decision effect my life in 5 minutes, 5 months, and 5 years?
The one difference for me is that I have to weigh two issues side-by-side, so in 5 minutes I will be devastated that I missed the deadlines and in 5 minutes I will be on the phone making a Dr's appointment; in 5 months I will have 2 less national exhibitions on my resume and I will have less exposure for my art, thus missing many opportunities AND in 5 months my family members will be healthy and cared for and know that I put them first; in 5 years my career will probably have absorbed the setback of missing these exhibitions and in 5 years these family members will have forgotten my choice (maybe even by 5 months), but overall I hope they absorb the fact that I am there ALWAYS, no matter what - and that is worth more to me than anything.
And here is another bonus, I am actually VERY PROUD of myself. I feel I have made a choice of integrity and that, in the end, that stance will be returned to me tenfold or one hundredfold from the art universe.
For Art's Sake,
Sher