Find your balance

Find your place of balance.

I’m doing this show.  Actually, we just set up for it and it doesn’t open for a while yet.  The judge gets an hour after everyone sets up to go through and look at everyone’s work.  I looked at everyone that was up and let me say, Oh My God!  The talent there is incredible!  I find myself in uncharted waters, while I wandered around staring at the masterpieces hanging around me.  I was getting more and more unsettled.  Everyone was so kind and I wasn’t the only new artist there.  We were all rather stunned in the company we were keeping. 

The conversations were about the same few sentences to start:  1) Have you done this show before?  2) Where did you come from? Depending on who you were talking to, things tended to go in different directions but I found myself back on familiar ground again when I began talking about the business of being an artist.  Most of the artists there, don’t travel the way I do.  I took 2 hours to hang my work and label it, others weren’t even close (some had much bigger spaces they had paid for).  They had started with a plan and then things went awry when they got there.  Others were like me, wondering about their prices and made a couple of comments that I spoke up about.  Nothing negative about someone else but slightly disparaging about their own.  I’m kind of pushy, I don’t allow an artist to get into a habit of saying anything negative about themselves or their art.

Several artists asked about my packing material, how do I make my bags?  I was happy to share the information.  Suddenly, I realized that I was on firm ground for me.  I knew how to help, things to say and pushed for everyone to be positive.  We must be positive, negative thoughts and second guessing aren’t going to help us when we are several hundred miles from home.  Some pros will tell you that “Fake it till you make it” is a fallacy, it isn’t.  It is a way to pretend to have balance while you are trying to find it.  If you are falling apart in a corner somewhere, you will never find your feet.  Keep putting one foot in front of the other, smile and pretend you aren't shaking inside.  Pretend; it's ok, you aren't breaking a law somewhere.  None of the other artists would be shocked to find out how scared you are.  Think of it like you are sharing a secret while you are finding your balance.

I've got to get ready now, wish me luck.  I'll be up front with a smile plastered over my nervous self.