We humans have amazing internal radar that picks up bs automatically. It’s a survival instinct, where knowing what’s real and what’s not has always been crucial.

We also have some equally amazing internal barricades that can rewrite our first, instinctual responses and kick us upstairs into the more civilized Brain Override Lounge.

Sometimes this is a good idea, when our instinctual response is actually triggered by an old pattern that no longer makes any sense. Other times it’s a form of personal delusion, when facing something authentically is going to ask more of us than we feel up to.

Either way, the people around us will…perk up when we are being authentic, and shut down to some degree when we are not.

If our confidence cannot pass the authenticity test, that’s when people’s eyes glaze over or someone else takes away our conversation ball.

However, there’s a problem with authenticity we are not talking about, which can compromise your ability to engage collectors and buyers with the kind of confidence that inspires people to buy your art.

Authenticity—an ongoing buzzword

In our new professional world, carried along the tides of social media, connecting with like-minded, kindred spirits is considered the relationship heart of marketing and sales.

If you can’t create a relationship with your audience, your people (whomever they might be), then your marketing efforts will have a hard time gaining traction.

So understanding authenticity as it relates to your confidence–one of the cornerstones of “relationship marketing”–is essential.

Except, there’s a problem with authenticity

On the face of it, authenticity seems to be a straightforward state of being that we either have or don’t have.

But consider what authenticity is asking of you.

It’s asking you, in the moment, to be real about what you are doing or saying—which is assumed to be a reflection of what you are thinking, which is always a reflection of what you are feeling, whether that emotion is available to your conscious mind or operating from the unconscious.

This means, at the professional level, that authenticity is a lot like taking off your emotional clothes with acquaintances or downright strangers.

A character in the television series, Smash, plays this out perfectly.

Julia, the writer for the musical production at the heart of Smash, does take off her clothes, inappropriately, then spends the following sequences being upfront and disarmingly authentic about the ongoing fallout.

Her authenticity, or you could read “brutal self-honesty,” is refreshing and surprising since most of us could simply not pull it off.

Because, for most of us, sincere authenticity feels alarming, vulnerable, and, well… downright exposing. Naked.

So, we hedge. We do a “half-authentic” spin, somersault off of, maybe cleverness, or self-deprecation, or turn the spotlight on someone else, or become the sarcastic critic with a wit, or company clown.

How to be authentic and keep your clothes on

There are endless variations to the almost-but-not-quite authentic game we all play in some situations when getting emotionally naked in public is just too threatening to our personality.

Sometimes this is sound judgment, given the situation and the people. Sometimes we’re just unprepared.

If you understand from the outset that authenticity carries with it the thorn of vulnerability, you can make decisions about what is real that you are comfortable sharing, and what is real that you are not comfortable sharing at this time.

Otherwise, you are at the mercy of reacting to a subliminal message of vulnerability in whatever way you react to anything that makes you feel too exposed, too naked.

People are always going to ask you about your artwork. Coming out with clichés—beauty, light, inspiring others, etc.— may be comforting laziness, but guaranteed it will work against you, as will witty deflections or superlatives.

Taking the time, in advance, to write a descriptive sentence about your art means you’ve had time to acknowledge the clichés, move past your own barrier to self knowledge, the “I don’t know what to say about my art,” and can present yourself and your art with confidence.

Once again, confidence equals competence

When you have competence for talking about your art, you automatically generate confidence with an authenticity that pulls your listener closer, creates a sense of trust and allows you to create a relationship that can lead to a sale.

A juicy, engaging descriptive sentence about your art accomplishes this for you when it does two things:

1. Creates enough curiosity so your listener will want to hear more.

2. Gives you a language handle on the whole point of why you do what you do.

When you write a descriptive sentence, it takes the pressure off of you having to spontaneously come up with something. It will keep you from floundering in the cliché swamp and put you in control of what you want to share.

And most of all, it will give you the confidence to engage people with authenticity and what is real. Then your audience can connect with the artist and the art.

————————————————————————————————

For a limited time, if you purchase the “Home Study Edition” of the smARTist Telesummit 2012, I will send you a bonus worksheet on “How To Write A Descriptive Sentence About Your Art.”

To get your bonus, email me your Order Confirmation email with the word “Bonus” in the subject line.

Click here to read about the “Home Study Edition” of the smARTist Telesummit 2012.

Of course I’ve taken every opportunity to shake artists free of this ignorant, if persistent, idea, beginning with my book Writing The Artist Statement: Revealing the True Spirit of Your Work.

Since we humans owe our ever-evolving humanity and consciousness to our ability to communicate, and since words are the core vehicle to this communication, perpetuating any level of poverty with the written word is to tie you up with a lie.

AND, I don’t dismiss the resistance a lot of artists feel toward writing. It’s very real. I just don’t buy that…

it’s necessary, or a given, or can’t be turned around.

When’s the last time you heard a good story?

The fact is: we humans are hard wired for story. Sitting around a fire telling stories has always been a critical way to stay connected with the tribe. And staying connected with the tribe has always been essential for survival.

This is equally true for your art career as it’s tied into the people who are essential to the survival of your career—your collectors and buyers.

Story is the fastest track to compelling engagement and continuing connection. And there are many ways you can do this. But since resistance can be so high, I suggest…

Starting With Something Simple

The titles to your artwork.

Titles for your work are the beginning of your non-visual communication with your viewers.

And in the land where websites rule (or Facebook), words are essential. People write about their art; others comment on it—all with words.

Even the newest rage, visual Pinterest, asks you to name your boards, to put words with the image you pin.

Words are your true friend because they help you create more than one level of association, increasing what I call the “sticky factor,” which helps people remember you.

Smell the coffee.

Taste the tang of the freshly sliced tangerine.

Feel the rough edge of a broken fingernail.

Listen to the church bells call to prayer.

See how well that works?

Now, compare to this:

“Untitled #10″

If your title tells a story – at any level – it immediately creates connection.

So, start with your titles, okay?

It’s not hard at all.

Surprises Happen When You Pay Attention To Your Intention

Find the story inside each piece you do.

You can do this by practicing listening to the story as you work.

Create the intention, before you start a new piece, that you will listen to the inside chatter of your own mind because it’s there the title will first appear.

I recommend keeping a spiral notebook and pen next to you and jotting down simple phrases or single words that will trigger entire thoughts once you’re out of the studio.

Or, if you have the space, unroll a huge sheet of newsprint on a wall, with a fat marker, and bounce the words/phrases off of that.

Working with story inside a title is a wonderful exercise in pairing down to the essentials. It’s a simple way for you to engage with your own language, with words that mean something to you.

It’s also a way for you to start to pay attention to the words you think, but don’t actually think about.

We All Have A Secret Language (the trick is how to find it)

Sometimes, a single word isn’t enough. You can feel the tip of its iceberg, but how can you drill down for more?

If you try this exercise, I promise you’ll have more words than you know what to do with.

This only works when you create a quiet space with no interruptions for a minimum of 30 minutes.

1. Light a candle (really, light a candle).

2. In your studio spiral notebook, write this Q: What do I mean by [insert word or phrase]?

3. Write an answer. As you write, notice when another word comes up that as even the slightest emotional zing to it.

4. Now, take that word and write the same Q: What do I mean by [insert new word or phrase]?

5. As you write that answer, notice when another word comes up that as even the slightest….

You get the point.

This is a simple, elegant way to introduce yourself to your own inner secret language.

One More Thing

Because online people search by words, words are part of the SEO equation (Search Engine Optimization) – or, what position your website turns up in a search on Google.

As I mentioned in the first post in this Confidence Series, one smARTist alumni told me that, after attending one of my smARTist Telesummit, she got two commissions just by titling her landscapes the exact names of the location where she painted them.

Someone googled those areas looking for wedding gifts and found her work… need I say more?

————————————————————-

Wouldn’t it be great to get tips that actually make a difference in your art career, like the alumni above who took just one idea from the smARTist Telesummit?

Artists email me all the time, about one thing and another, which they learned at the telesummit that made a huge difference for them.

Click here to make this year your best year ever because you have the information you need most.

It is what sets you apart from the pack of ordinary work, where a dozen pair portraits from a dozen different artists could be lined up next to each other and all look as if they came from the same artist.

When your work is speaking from the level of your soul, no one can ever successfully copy you. Your artistic fingerprint is just that: yours. By definition it cannot be anyone else’s.

Only a lot of artists feel confused by the difference between loving what they have just made, and knowing the work carries a distinct sense of who they are as an artist.

An artistic fingerprint can be simple or complex, but it is never about self-duplication.

It’s something you do…

organically, probably effortlessly, and it infuses your work with what I call the soul essence of self.

If it’s organic, effortless, and my soul essence, why can it seem so hard sometimes?

Thing is this: artists are super-charged creative beings. This is not some theory, i.e., everyone is creative; this is creativity manifesting in time and space, visible to all.

And one of the key attributes of creativity is that it is not domain specific. In other words, when you are creative, you are creative across multiple venues. Some writers also paint. Some musicians also sculpt.  Some painters also dance. Some painters sculpt, write, dance, play music, etc. Some sculptors can’t stick to clay, but forage into 3D collage, or wood, or stone, or….

And this is where the challenge begins. When you are creative, you naturally open the flow to many ideas with many inspirations taking you off on many directions.

And, oh the joy! of that expression—the creative flow that carries us on timeless wings into worlds beyond our daily existence.

Who has any inclination to consider whether or not an “artistic fingerprint” prevails?  It’s all coming up roses!

And yet, why do the work you do if it’s not indelibly yours?

I don’t mean to imply that creating works of art for the sheer pleasure of it is a problem. It’s not—at it’s core this is all about pleasure.

But if you plan to make an impact with your work, if that is important to you, then an artistic fingerprint is essential.

Only I want to make a distinction between work that ends up in the world, and work that is being made on your way to work that ends up in the world.

Practice makes perfect. It can also make storage a problem.

One of the biggest mistakes I see artists make is confusing the work they are “practicing” on with the work they put out for buyers and collectors.

The problem originates with the physicality of what artists do. A pianist practicing for a symphony concert doesn’t have this problem. The notes disappear into the air. A canvass takes up space even as it reminds us of how we felt doing the work.

So the discipline of the artist becomes far more problematical, and especially if you fall in love with every piece you do.

Practice work and work ready for your public is not the same, and your maturity and sophistication as an artist depends on you acknowledging the difference. That’s step one.

Step two is knowing your artistic fingerprint, knowing and naming the characteristics so you can infuse conscious intentionality into what you are doing.

Here’s the litmus test

Imagine that you are in a group show with 10 artists. All ten of you have 4 pieces sprinkled in-between each other, and spread over three rooms.

Could a stranger see one piece in one room, than another piece in a different room and immediately know these pieces were yours?

And not because they were all cats! (or cheese and wine, or landscapes). But because your artistic fingerprint is unmistakable.

Don’t confuse a signature style with limited creativity

One of the big roadblocks artists will often put in their path is this fear that someone or something is going to try to control their creative expression.

Often, this is a fear that signals a need for expanded emotional awareness.

First off, no one can control you unless you give them permission.

Second, creativity thrives on both challenges and working within narrow boundaries (can’t go wide, go deep!).

One artist I know limits her color pallet to 3 colors for any piece she works on. And recently she was rewarded with a huge museum show where her career shot off the charts!

Believe me, when you see Shirley Williams’ work, there is no question that it is hers.

Can you say the same about yours?

————————————————

When you do the work of writing an artist statement, it can open you up to aspects of your work that you were unaware of, or just hadn’t noticed yet.

It’s a good start if you are struggling with your artistic fingerprint, to get a handle on your artist statement. Not just to end up with an artist statement, but to expand your relationship to your work so you can be aware at another level.

Welcome to the phantasmagorical world of Geoffrey Gorman_American Style Mag

Geoffrey Gorman, artist and partner in our Art Career Mentor Program, made a very provocative statement during one of our sessions. He said that “curiosity is the most important trait an artist can have.”

Arguably, he was referring to the making of art where an artist lubricates all parts of the process by staying open and curious about materials, about subject matter, and the message.

But I think there’s another dimension where curiosity will separate out the short pants from the long pants (now why isn’t there…

a feminine equivalent to that analogy?… but let’s not get sidetracked—or would that be side-saddled?).

Over the years I’ve noticed a recurring pattern where artists seldom have a conscious, intentional relationship to their art.

It’s more like the relationship is taken for granted, because, after all, the act of making art itself is already a relationship. And it’s usually a relationship that engages you in ways that are pleasurable and satisfying, neither of which seems to excite our brains or psyches to dig any deeper.

Then along comes another person who, quite naturally, asks “So, what is your work all about anyway?”

This is usually not a pleasurable or satisfying question because, most often, the only response that comes out is vague or banal or downright trite with shopworn words like beauty and inspired and colorful and light, etc.

There can also be an underlying irritation that goes something like (silently to self) Why can’t so and so just look at my work (and be satisfied as I am)?

Because satisfaction is not a relationship

Satisfaction is a response to a relationship.

The person who asks you this question is also at a loss for hidden questions lingering underneath this obvious one, which is a lot like the way we all ease into a conversation with each other – with small talk about the weather, or the fabulous lunch we just had.

Small talk, contrary to commonly held views, is only shallow when it exceeds its original intention (which is to ease us into deeper waters with each other), or when it becomes the whole conversation.

Likewise, when someone asks you what your work is about, that’s the easing into deeper waters about your relationship to your art, which is another way of asking about your relationship to creativity, which is another way of asking for help with their own creativity (or perceived lack of).

A conversation about creativity is not a conversation about beauty

Of course, beauty may be a driving force for you as an artist, and that’s legit.

What’s not okay is to be lazy about digging deeper into what beauty is for you so what you talk about has real impact—as much of an impact as your art.

Because, what you say or don’t say about your relationship to your work affects your work.

And, yes, I understand that even though you spend hours every single day immersed in the language of words, somehow bringing conscious attention to your own word-language seems fraught with problems, resistance, and downright denial of language as your medium of expression.

I talk about why this happens to artists in my book, Writing The Artist Statement: Revealing the True Spirit of Your Work, and essentially it boils down to a long-held prejudice that was instilled in us by years of elementary, junior-high, and high school regiments of when, where, and how we were allowed to say what to whom. And the consequences of being shamed, rebuked, and dismissed if we didn’t comply.

Fast forward to adulthood, and now words are wrenched from the pit of how we have been separated from one of our most natural forms of expression, and one where we don’t have trouble until we are asked to write or speak intentionally.

Here’s what I recommend

Like anything else you want to master, choosing the words that most truly reflect your relationship to your art takes practice, the bravery to ask others for feedback, and more practice.

1. Focus on your relationship to your art instead of explaining your art. When you try to explain your art you are stepping into the critic’s shoes, and they will invariably pinch your toes.

Invite people into your world of art making, which is what they really want. Why do you do what you do? How do you do it? Why do you use those materials and not something else? Describe what you experience as you are creating. Describe the idea that drives you to make the next mark, shape the next hunk of clay, fire the next tile.

2. You are talking to your self about your art all the time. It’s what I call wallpaper talk. You don’t pay any attention to it. It’s just there.

If you start carrying around a notebook, in the studio, in the car, by your bed… and simply jot down EVERY THOUGHT about your work that comes into your head, yes, even the dull, the boring, or the outrageous and unrepeatable. This puts your brain on alert that this self-talk is no longer wallpaper and it will reward you with unbelievable gems down the road.

3. If there are words that keep coming up in your wallpaper conversations, like “beauty,” “inspire,” “color,” “light,” etc. Try this writing exercise to dig past the cliches and into the gold:

Write this question: “What do I mean by beauty?” Then answer it. And if another common phrase jumps up, do it again: “What do I mean by light?” Then answer that. Eventually, you’ll come to a place that transcends your own expectations.

Note: Do this when you will absolutely not be interrupted. And light a candle while you Q&A with yourself.

————————————————

btw – Geoffrey and I ran a fabulous 10-week course called “The Art Career Mentor Program” where we pulled together a complete course on putting your art career on the map. Then we turned the live course into a Home Study Course, so you can set your own pace.

As artist, Lydia Grey put it:

This program jumped me out of a marketing and creative rut…

The Art Career Master Vision Plan, in sessions two and three, helped me re-vision what I want to do, looking at what my current business practices are, where they fall short, and what I can add that is consistent with my vision.

This program helped me take an honest look at where I am, what I’m doing now, and jumped me out of a marketing and creative rut to take more control of my path.

So let’s shake it out.

Let’s take each of the five points I made, last week, and expand in as many directions as we can in a 5-part series. (Well, if you count last week that would be 6 parts ;-) but who’s counting?)

And, I’m going to need your help for this. I’ll be able to nail down a few ideas, but it’s you, out there in the studio day after day, who can tell me what I can’t even imagine.

Here’s what I’m looking for, from you…

I’ll tell you the 3 things that come to me about how to increase your confidence in the studio. Then, in the “comments” you tell me what I’ve missed!

As I said last week, no matter where you are on the career path, keeping your technical skills finely tuned is essential.

For some artists, execution comes easily. For others, it’s more laborious. In either case, mastery of your materials will leave an energetic residue that sends out a clear signal to the viewer.

I’ll give you two examples.

A Tale Of Two Artists: Confidence as Compliment, Confidence as Competence

Artist No.1: Her work is hanging in a local venue, a charming neighborhood bar run by a woman who is cherished by everyone in the community, in no small part because she supports local bands and local visual artists.

Artist No.1 has two things going for her: an engaging imagination, and enough drawing skill to tell a story through what I call fantasy realism.

Looking at her work framed in expensive, gaudy, gilded gold, you can tell that she is encouraged by her friends and family, and probably acquaintances who do not have her basic drawing skills—that her work is wonderful.

And so she has settled (and shows her work for sale) at a basic technical level that a fairly gifted, high school senior might be able to pull off.

And I’m guessing that no one is going to tell her the truth: if she wants this to be a viable, sustainable career (and, who knows, she may not), those pieces need to come down and she needs to go take workshops, classes, find a mentor.

Artist No.2 has the flip side to this story. She has been studying and mentoring with old master realist teachers for years. And years. Her skill level is so high that her pieces feel as if they are actually breathing, just took a step, just turned their head – only you missed it.

Suddenly Artist No.2 has an urge to create a couple of encaustic, abstract pieces – a series of straight, black lines intersecting at various points on the canvass. Simple. Plain. No color. Never did it before.

However, because her skill level at mark making is so advanced, these simplistic dashes of black lines are wildly exciting. The first piece evokes energy simultaneously contained, yet unleashed; movement transcending dimensions of reality. The second feels like a transmission from another world, a bird’s eye view of familiar, yet unknown, terrain.

The Moral?

Your level of core skills will always be reflected in your final piece – no matter how complex or how simple. You cannot hide behind, or be content with, a great imagination, compliments from those who love or admire you, or your own lack of… what? confidence? motivation?… to put in the hard hours.

3 Ways to Heat Up Your Studio Confidence

If you suspect you are shaky at any level, or bit-by-bit sinking into a routine that feels jaded or stale, here are 3 ways I recommend to send bolts of life energy coursing through your work.

1. Find A Mentor, Take a Workshop, Organize a Group Of Artists

There is always someone further along the path than we are, and someone who hasn’t caught up to where we are.

I don’t care how good you are, there is someone out there who can offer you even more. Maybe even two someones.

Find that person, or persons. Bow to their experience. Allow yourself to be taught no matter how good you think you are, or how bad you think you are, because neither is absolutely true.

2. Find Your Fear Point

“Fear” might be a little extreme for some of you, but only if you forget that fear is a continuum that moves all the way from mild caution up to stark terror.

When you get in the studio, where do you not allow yourself to go? Truthfully?

It’s so human-like to bliss out in our zone of excellence, or float there, or even sing along with.

Imagine swimming out into deeper waters – where your sharks live. Start there, with the imagining. Keep a notebook as you do this and write it all down, otherwise your brain will just love the chance to be a trickster and keep you where the fire is cozy and warm.

And remind yourself that at any point you can swim back to shore and dry out again by the fire.

Do this and I guarantee your zone of excellence will never feel the same again.

3. Be Alice In Wonderland

Work big? Go tiny, itsy bitsy.

Work small? Go so BIG it freaks you out.

And, no, I’m not taking the “my studio isn’t big enough” excuse.

Find an artist whose studio is big enough and ask if you can rent, join, play with. Rent a place for one month or one week or one day! And if you are setting yourself up for a “no,” I’m betting that’s your fear point. Your shark.

Work in oils? Try acrcylics

Happy with encaustic? Go for collage.

Into clay? Get out the canvas and brushes.

We jump the fear gun by imagining that whatever we do we have to do forever. Seriously, we take ourselves too seriously.

Who, I ask you, is an artist who can’t break free of his or her own traditions and play again?

If nothing else, set yourself a new challenge,.

Work out of your comfort zone – hard for 3 weeks -and see what changes in your skill level.

As I said before, there is no destination here, only continual arriving…

—————————-

There has to be more ways than this for shaking up, and shaking down, your skill level in the studio.

What has worked for you? What have you have discovered out on the edge of the Confidence Universe?

—————————-

In case you’re wondering, the “Home Study Edition” of the smARTist Telesummit 2012 gives you the competence you need around your collectors and buyers to stand strong in your confidence.

Here’s what one of your fellow artists told me,

Thank you from my soul for having this summit, for dreaming it, creating it and making it happen. It is wonderful. I came in thinking I don’t do licensing! I paint.

Imagine the surprise I felt when Maria Brophy started talking: my energy soared, my enthusiasm not just for her talk but all the possibilities she was calling out in my imagination was sky rocketing. I was glued to the head set.   ~Anneke Newman (from Australia)

And this is what Anneke was talking about -> “Your Collector Lifeline: How to Use Confidence, Connection, and Communication so They Buy Your Art.”

And by that I mean bone-real confidence; not the pumped-up kind, where we’re skating over a surface of insecurity and fear, and so we’re pumping ourselves up to keep from falling over a cliff.

I’m talking about the kind of confidence that’s based on what decades of academic research have shown: that it is not compliments—it is not people telling you how good your art is—it is your level of competence that is the bedrock  of your confidence.

Here are 5 cool ways to increase your art-career competence, which will automatically increase your confidence. (And if I’ve left any out, go right ahead and add it in the comments!)

1. Cool Confidence in the Studio

I don’t care where you are on the career path, keeping your technical skills finely tuned is essential. If you know you are shaky at any level, or slowly getting a bit jaded or stale, find a mentor, a leader in your genre to work with, or start an artist group and invite artists who have the skill levels you would like to have.

If nothing else, set yourself a new challenge, something out of your comfort zone. Work that place hard for 3 weeks and see what changes in your skill level. There is no destination here, only continual arriving…

2. Cool Confidence in Your Relationship To Your Art

When’s the last time you had a heart-to-heart with a piece of work? Did you keep a written record of that conversation? I know an artist who literally talks to her paintings and waits for them to respond.

If nothing else, keep a notebook in the studio next to you and jot down key phrases as they swirl around in your mind. Otherwise, the wallpaper inside your head will fade away and you might lose the very phrase that unlocks the next collector’s heart and purse.

3. Cool Confidence in Your Artistic Fingerprint

When your work is speaking from the level of your soul, no one can ever successfully copy you. Your artistic fingerprint is just that: yours. By definition it cannot be anyone else’s.

Here’s the litmus test: If you were in a group show with 10 artists and you had 4 pieces sprinkled in-between the other artists and spread over three rooms, could a stranger see one piece in one room, than another piece in a different room and immediately know these pieces were from the same artist – and not because they were all cats! (or pears, or landscapes)

An artistic fingerprint can be simple or complex, and it is never about self-duplication. It’s something you do organically, probably effortlessly, and it infuses your work with what I call the soul essence of self.

4. Cool Confidence in Your Titles

This is the beginning of your non-visual communication with your viewers. And in the land where websites rule (or Facebook), words are essential. Even the raging visual Pinterest asks you to name your boards, put words with the image you pin.

Words are your true friend because they help you create more than one level of association, increasing what I call the “sticky factor” that helps people remember you. Smell the coffee. Taste the tang of the freshly sliced tangerine. Feel the rough edge of a broken fingernail. Listen to the church bells call to prayer. See how well that works?

Compare to: “Untitled #10″  Need I say more?

Yes, actually I do. Online, people search by words. One artists got two commissions just by giving her landscapes the exact names of the location where she painted them. Someone googled those areas looking for gifts and found her work… need I say more?

5. Cool Confidence in What You Say About Your Work

People are always going to ask you about your work. Hemming and hawing, coming out with stock phrases about beauty and color and light, or over reaching for the bravado of academic phrases, this is the provenance of amateurs.

(Yes, I know… more words. Funny how word-language follows us around…)

Remember that notebook I suggested in Cool Confidence #2? This is your treasure chest of perfect words. Keep it by your side, next to your bed, in the car, in the studio… Jot down ALL thoughts (that primes the brain to keep supplying you with more). Don’t edit. Especially don’t judge. At this stage its all good because once you’ve let your brain dump out the cliches, the dumb, the boring (the weeds), only then is there room for the sleeping jewels underneath to shine through.

Start here, with these five competence building blocks, and watch how quickly your confidence shifts into a higher gear.

Because, all your marketing plans, all your business goals are on shaky ground until your confidence levels become strong enough to support them.

————————————————————-

Wouldn’t it be great to know a few confidence tips, like how to address friends and family who overtly, or subtly, put down your desire for an art career? And what if you had a system designed to give your confidence a real boost no matter what’s going on?

At the smARTist Telesummit 2012, one of our keynote speakers did just that, while 9 other keynote speakers covered everything you’d want to know about: “Your Collector Lifeline: How to Use Confidence, Connection, and Communication so They Buy Your Art.”

And right now, for a few days, I’m running an Early Bird Discount on the Home Study Edition - where you can get all the material from the live conference and soak it up in the comfort of your studio or home.

Brogan uses this Three Words in lieu of New Year’s Resolutions. I loved the idea, never having found resolutions to be more than wishful thinking and broken promises. So, I took up the challenge of creating three words that will help…define and guide my actions and behavior in 2012.

My Three Words for 2012

Goodness – I will endeavor to incorporate goodness into all I do. It means seeking to achieve the best of those things most beneficial to my family, health, work, the environment and me. I will take action to become kinder and more generous.

Richness – My purpose here is not to gain wealth, although I am not against it. The goal is to seek and embrace abundance in my daily life. I will seek richness in the way I communicate, and in the way I make personal and career choices, and in my products and services I offer.

I believe, if I fulfill this goal and act as a conduit of rich ideas, adding valuable experiences and actions to those around me, that there will be a natural flow to me of resources that will lead to a life rich in health, friendships and acknowledgment for my contributions. I think wealth will be a byproduct of these other intentions and actions.

Simplify – This may be the hardest goal to reach because I have such varied interests. Some might call it focus, but that is just a matter of intention.

I’m talking about a series of purposeful actions. Without closing my mind to new ideas, I will streamline the amount of information that comes into my life. I will clean out the closets of clothes worn long ago, in another life. I will pare down anything that does not add value or beauty to my life. I will identify those possessions I no longer need or use.  And then, I will find ways to put them back into circulation so others who need them can find and use them.

——————————————————————————–

If you love and want more of this good man, Barney Davey, and his wisdom for artists (which is as profound as this post), sign up for the smARTist Telesummit 2012 INTEREST LIST because he is one of my 10 fabulous speakers this year.

Once you are on “the list,” you’ll have access to the registration page for this year’s professional development conference, plus free art-career resources just for you.

NOTE:  Barney Davey is the leading authority in the fine art print market and author of How to Profit from the Art Print Market: Creating Cash Flow from Original Art.

When you register for this year’s smARTist Telesummit, you won’t miss his talk on how to: Boost Your Art Career: Use Publicity, Promotion and the Power of Self-Belief to Leverage Your Success.

It’s so rare that we take time to consider the more esoteric side of making art. But without that, how dry would all the rest be?

Blue Stocking Art Salon (twitter aka: #ArtBlue) No.1

Tidbits, in no particular order…

Ariane to Artist No.1 – Can you say just a little bit more, [Artist No.1], about what you mean by “elevating humanity?”

Artist No.1 – Well, I.M. Pei once said that the purpose of art is to move; and I definitely agree with that.  So, I think, as artists—and this is my opinion—we’re in the world differently than some other people.

I think we see, feel, hear, touch, and taste differently.  And, in turn, we have the ability to sort of touch this glint of light, if you will, and then it becomes our job to bring it out into the world.  And that can take many, many forms.

I think sometimes we express the things that other people can’t express.  We open people’s minds to things they may not have considered; or allow them to look at things a little bit differently.

There are so many possibilities—more than I could ever mention here today.  But I think we hold a very special place, and a special opportunity.

Artist No.2 –

…the point of what I’m saying that he mentioned: this concept of elevating humanity; that’s heavy lifting for an artist.  That’s heavy lifting for anybody.

But what Richard said was he feels that he was put on earth to create this art, and that if we all step up to this calling, and want to elevate humanity, and stretch thought into newer, more progressive areas, then each piece that we create is like dropping sand in the machine.  Not a single grain is going to stop the machine, but collectively it has an impact.

So, when I think of elevating humanity, I think, Oh, little me?  You know?  Where could I possibly have impact?

But then, when I think of it in his terms, each piece is this grain that goes into the big process.

And eventually the machine grinds to a halt, and has to be reworked, or elevated, and rethought.  So, in that sense I feel I can be more effective.

Ariane (in response to Artist No.3) –

…The reason I wanted to ask you about feeling the frustration is because I get the sense that we live in a very unique time, where the sense of time, and speed, and everything moving so quickly has been…

…well, the physicists say that that’s actually physically true: that everything is speeding up in our universe.

And then, we have the Internet, where we know everything’s pretty darn fast.

And when our non-virtual lives don’t match that same speed, there’s a sensation we’re doing something wrong—not that the speedometer for one dimension is being used in a different dimension, and they don’t match up.

It’s kind of like using the same speedometer for an airplane that you would for a car.  They’re in different realms.  I don’t think that we take that into account easily, because of how prevalent it is in the culture right now.

And the pressure on an artist to believe in their heart that their value of their art is dependent on whether or not it sells, I personally think has overshadowed the whole issue of how you put food on the table; that when people say, Well, I’ve got to pay the bills, the hidden story in there is, and, if I don’t use my art to pay the bills, then my art must not be very good.  It must not have enough value.  People don’t want to buy it.

And that that’s a whole area we don’t really say out loud.

——————————————————————–

What would YOU like to say out loud?

Come join  us on the first and third Wednesday of each month:

“The Blue Stocking Art Salon”

With Ariane Goodwin, Ed.D., artist Lori Wolfson, and a whole passel of fab artists -> come check it out!

The clocks have swirled backwards an hour as daylight savings kicks in (saving what, I’ve always wondered…) and I think, what if I’m living an hour of my life forward (or backward), and how does that change my personal infinity timeline? Is the parallel me hanging out there… in the infinite multiverse also switching her clocks?

I’m listening to a duo I never knew existed: Joan Biaz and Jeff Shurtleff from their One Day At A Time album, sending me into a heartfelt place of deep tenderness with harmony so pure it makes the heart overflow without hesitation.

And from this place of overflow maybe I’ll find the words that have been eluding me for weeks and weeks.

It’s the language of vulnerability. Of self-love. Of turning to the best that is within me and standing up for my own best self, without limits or self-consciousness.

Something I have no trouble helping my private art-career coaching clients do. But of course, when it comes to following our own advice suddenly the obvious becomes as illusive as Big Foot.

Tonight, for some equally illusive reason, I’m ready to have a Go At It

Like my fabulous visual artists, who fill my world with creative bliss (to take a chapter from the amazing playbook of my colleague in business and heart, Jennifer Hofmann), I have been struggling about showing my struggles.

I was raised in a very different era. A time when professionalism meant you buttoned up (your real thoughts) and settled down (stepped on your natural, fiery enthusiasm). A time when you “dressed the part” and never aired dirty laundry in public.

It also didn’t hurt to be a very smart girl in a world that told you, as one, very male, high school teacher once did in the halls of South Salem High, that “if you continue to be so smart, no one will ever marry you.” (I’m not kidding… he really did step on my tender 16-year-old heart just like that…)

In short: no reality anything, no flaming news broadcasters or casual sex on every channel imaginable. Certainly no “will the real you please stand up.”

Even back then, the whole gig felt claustrophobic, straight-jacketed, and kind of silly. And I railed in my own mild way. Never enough to shed the good girl mandate, but enough to wear “weird” with a prideful toss of my head.

However, that buttoned-down training got to me at some deep core where inviting transparency felt threatening and vaguely unnatural. Staying partially hidden felt safe, appropriate, right.

So, then, how do you grow your artistic fingerprint?

A signature fingerprint, of course, isn’t just for artists. It’s that recognition, within any of us, that we are here to give our true self, which like our fingerprint is ours and only ours to give.

Our snowflake-unique Gift to Life.

If we are staying safe and partially hidden, then we’ve automatically cut off some or all of that gift. And if staying safe, which begs the question of fear, is the controlling mandate, come on, honestly now, how much of your true self are you going to let slip past the bars?

Chances are you, like me, are going to play it safe and reveal only where you feel competent, confident, strong. Places of struggle, of vulnerability may be hinted at but most likely won’t be where we go skinny dipping.

Even though the payoff can be remarkable…

… the power of herd conditioning can be a very tall fence around our hearts.

The last “vulnerable” post I wrote on this blog, a long time ago, netted me some 50 comments. Clearly, you, my lovely peeps, were there supporting me all the way. Did I take up the torch? Did I follow that momentum and start to roll out more.

Nope. Not at all. I fell right back into my default position of post-hiatus.

Part of my struggle with blogging has been this whole transparency-struggle thing.  It’s also been this fingerprint thing.

I come off like someone who has that all figured out, I know. (It’s been a life-long, cover-up strategy I’ve honed to a very fine point–but that, seriously, could be a whole series of posts where extreme eye-rolling is a pretty safe bet.)

There’s vulnerability and reveal and then there’s vulnerability+ and reveal+, which fall just over the newly minted line between the personal (as in, keep it to yourself, puhlease) and what I call the “Personal Professional,” the new and fabulous intersection of business, relationship, and heart.

Struggle In This House Too

It’s not unusual for each of us to teach what we are also learning, which is a pretty cool system when you think about it – since learning sticks best when we have to prepare, and then share, what we also want to grasp.

So I’m here declaring, for all of you to see, and so hold me accountable in that way only public declarations do… unless, of course, I was a politician) that I’m going to muddle my way through a new era of the “Personal Professional” right here on this blog.

• And in my upcoming Successful Artist Circle membership training program (still in development), where I struggle with being good enough. I worry late at night that showing up for you every month with something relevant, salient for your life is a tall order. And I’ll absolutely need you to give me feedback on what’s working and what you need.

This membership program is also challenging me to step into my artistic fingerprint, a slippery, messy business that’s making my head hurt (more posts on that, for sure!)

• And in my open book experiment, 10 Zen Habits of Successful Artists, which I’m going to write here on the blog so you can jump in and let me know if it sings to you clear and open, or if it’s breaking glass all over the house.

• And in my exploration on BlueStockingsArtSalon (stay tuned, the opening discussion is Nov 16th and I will let you know!) with my good friend and artist Lori Wolfson, where we are opening up our private discussions on art and life for you to not only hear, but to participate with your own thoughts, questions, concerns, and topics you’d like to explore.

We’re going deep here. The big questions about what it means to be an artist. What art does for civilization. How we work through resistance. How we bring our best selves to the studio…

• And of course, the upcoming 6th annual smARTist Telesummit, where after 6 years my struggles are mostly paper tigers (thank goodness!), because you’ve let me know consistently, year after year, what works and what needs fixing. And because we’ve built such an amazing community together.

So the long/short of all this…

… is that I’m going to be showing up here, sometimes, with my slip showing, my eyes a bit sleepy, shaking my head to clear out the fog, and listening intently to what you have to say about what you want, need, desire, long for – and how I may truly be of service, as opposed to how I think I might be of service.

For I’d so much rather take a lot of tries to hit the bullseye with you watching, than practice in private until I’ve perfected something without you in the picture at all.

Okay, now it’s even later – 5:16 am (or, really, it’s 6:16am) and I’m going to go brush my teeth (that’s the personal part you’ve been waiting for, right?) and fall into my flannel-covered pillow, face first (uh, oh, am I getting close to when my daughter raises her hand up in a “stop” position and says, “Too much information, Mom…”).

So now it’s your turn (that’s the professional part).

What struggle is keeping you up at night? (For your sake, I’m going to assume it’s only one.)

Other artists feel an urge to say something; it may be all visual or have a layer of language, but the message hums throughout.

Some artists have a strong need for beauty over message, for others it’s message over beauty. And some find a creative groove where pattern and color and repetition become a visual drum beat.

And it’s all good. And it’s all fine, until…

You Factor In The Audience

At that point the game changes. Now others are kicking around in the creative stew with you. And, this I’ve noticed, is where artists often stumble.

Once upon a time, the major face-to-face with an artist’s audience was the opening reception at a show. Now we have to navigate a world where connection dogs our every step: cell phones (now smart phones), iPads, email, net surfing, social media. It’s as if you can’t turn off the opening reception – it goes everywhere you do.

In some ways, we have an audience moat all around us and we can’t even pull up the drawbridge. In other ways, the audience we want or need to have for our art seems invisible, if not completely mythical.

The good news, as a New Professional, is that your chances to connect with people, who will love and want your art, have gone from one, narrow channel to a raging river of possibilities.

Now it’s not “Is there an audience,” but “Who is my audience?”

Who Finds Who… and where?

When you first wake up to the world of audience, the instinct is to focus on them - if you only knew who they were. Or where to find “them.” And you worry that all the best ones have been taken. Or maybe they’ve flown to the second star on the right when you weren’t looking.

What if, instead of focusing on the audience, you focused on yourself and your art as a way to find that audience?

I’m going to take a page, here, from another genre of artists, writers–and from the artist/psychologist Carl Jung. They say that all writing is biography (well, maybe not owner’s manuals), and all dreams are aspects of self (gulp).

What if I suggested that if you looked in the mirror, or at your artwork, you’d find at least one segment of your audience staring right back at you?

“Know Thyself” Is A Good Place To Start

For this perspective to work, though, you have to step away from “how am I different?” (could be tricky for an artist), and become a sociologist asking “how am I the same?”

Consider yourself part of a group of like-minded people. Describe yourself from a sociological perspective: gender, age, education, hobbies, where you vacation, what you read, how you spend your leisure time, what kind of friends you hang out with, etc.

Then look at your art and ask  yourself: If I bought this piece, where would I put it? What would I tell my friends about it? What would it add to my life (or prevent)? If this piece had a story to tell me, what would it say?

This kind of knowing assumes that you can articulate what you know, which assumes there is something to articulate.

And here’s where your artistic fingerprint literally points the way because it represents  your authentic self, which – after your art – is the very next thing your audience will resonate with (or not).

Authenticity Counts

Until Social Media took the Internet, and the New World, by storm, authenticity was something the woo-woo people got all hyped up about. It was a fuzzy buzz word that stood for real value to one group of people and was stand up comedy for another.

Now authenticity has become the bedrock of the New Online Professional (woo-woos of the World unite!).

For an artist, authenticity – the kind you need for success – translates into your artist’s voice, your artistic fingerprint: that which is unmistakably yours and only yours.

And it is the single most compelling reason that your audience needs to reach deep into their pocket and pull out the green backs. Long before the Internet (even before the telephone!) this has been true, only now that truth is hitched to the ever-expanding world of technology.

When you create in a consistent style, you send a signal to your audience’s brain that registers as familiar. And humans love familiar because familiar is safe. This is the same principle behind having someone you know introduce you to someone you don’t know. The second person is more inclined to be receptive to you because they know the first person; it’s safe, you’re safe.

Artists can be wary of anything that feels like a prison of sameness or repetition, so it’s really important to understand that a consistent fingerprint does not limit you, it defines you. Think of it this way: Imagine turning up for coffee with your best friend, and every time you had a different face.

That is what it’s like for your audience to keep up with you shifting styles on them without some consistent fingerprint. Picasso was  a master at this. No matter how wildly different his different periods were, they had a consistency and a fingerprint that was only Picasso – even when he mimicked other artists!

For The New Professional: Artist Voice + Authenticity+Articulation=Audience

For your audience, it’s all about their resonance with your work and their bond with you.

And resonance and bonding only come when what you do strikes a chord with your audience as they experience your work. If your work is interchangeable with a dozen other artists, in that moment you may have a sale based on aesthetics and execution. But what you won’t have is a bond, a long-term relationship, since your audience can get the same experience from a dozen other artists working in a similar fashion.

Your work is one layer, you are another layer, your artistic voice/fingerprint another, and the connecting tissue for your audience is how well you articulate it all.

For the New Professional, being able to articulate your artist voice is fast becoming as critical a layer as having an artist voice. All the options we have for connection via the Internet are 100% based on language: written or spoken.

Images are powerful and play a strong role, but they never do so without words.

In Part 3, we’ll look at how bonding is only one step on the path to a successful connection with your audience. With the New Professional, it’s critical to recognize that you have the responsibility for bonding upkeep. We’ll explore that in the last of this series, so keep an eye out!

——

Having an artistic fingerprint will only go so far in the New World. Being articulate about your uniqueness is the magic key to unlocking your relationship to your art for your audience. Nothing does this as well as your artist statement. Isn’t it time you stopped putting it off? Click here.

After four years of doing this, it never fails to humble me, and make me eternally grateful, that the work I’ve chosen is spinning out to light inspirational fires for those artists who are passionate and committed enough to join me, the speakers (leading authorities on different aspects of an artist’s career), and their fellow artists (the smARTist Telesummit Forum is a lively, artist-to-artist exchange of tips, tricks, and heartfelt, smart suggestions from a wealth of collective experience).

What never occurred to me, was that…one of my speakers would use smARTist to move her own art career in a direction she had dreamed about, but never – until now – accomplished.

What struck me most about Lucia’s story is how moving ahead on one dream automatically opened the floodgates for even more to appear.

I think it’s a good lesson to let in the front door of our psyches, so we are continually replacing caution and timidity with “why not?”

Here is Lucia Capcchione’s story :

Dear Ariane:
When I accepted your invitation to be a speaker at your smARTist Telesummit, I had no idea I’d ever be opening a gallery and marketing my art directly.

Then, in April of 2009, a gallery space became available in Cambria where I live. I asked some local friends to join me – quite a spontaneous “whim” – and they all agreed. We started with 4 artists. One dropped out due to health issues and we now have a total of 5 artists, including myself.

After opening the gallery, my art career from the 60s and 70s re-emerged without me doing anything about it. Northen Sun in Minnesota contacted me after seeing my 60s and 70s posters being auctioned by someone on ebay. So now, I have licensed this company to produce my posters and cards from the 60s and 70s in new editions.

As you know from the teleseminar, prior to opening the gallery I was doing personal life and career coaching with my Visioning® method and conducting my certification training in Creative Journal Expressive Arts. Still authoring books (mostly ebooks now) and doing a few public workshops each year.

Now that I’m not traveling as much, I am at home in Cambria working in the gallery 2 days a week. It’s been quite an adventure. I even started designing wearable art jewelry for something to do while sitting the gallery. I am also selling antique and vintage Japanese kimonos (been collecting them for years) in the gallery. Seems that I’ve come full circle with my art career and hobby collecting kimonos. I’m also on etsy.com

I thought you’d be intrigued by all these new developments. I know I am. I do know that in the 70s, when I was still involved in my art career, I had dreamed of having a gallery/book store/coffee shop. Well, I sell my 13 books and audios at our gallery and there is an open door to the business next door, Lily’s Coffee House. So I got my dream after all. I guess it was time.

Best to you and the smARTist Telesummit!

Lucia Capacchione

———————————————————————————–

Living  your dream, and all that comes with it, is never out of reach. It’s as close as your next decision. Your next choice.

Is there some place where you still feel that you need to be cautious and careful for fear of mis-stepping? Or, are your arms open wide to life and the reality that taking just one step forward will lead you to the next, and the next… until your dream is fully manifested before you.

One path that has given countless artists exactly what they need to move forward is the smARTist Telesummit. And smARTist 2011 promises to keep up this annual tradition of helping artists create a smart, sophisticated, and successful art career.

I urge you to sign up for the Interest List. There’s no obligation – AND the people on this list will be the first to hear when registration opens (seats are limited to 500 this year), and will have first dibs on the one-and-only Early Bird Discount.

I think we were both a bit stunned when over 50 artists signed up. Yikes! Chaos on the loose in studio after studio…

And now that Fall has fallen into all of our laps, I thought this a perfect time to use the crisp autumn energy to open up a path of clarity through all the overwhelm – real or mythical – with a guest post from Jennifer herself.

The #1 Sneaky Lie That Attracts Overwhelm (and what to do about it…)Abundance is here.

Do you have more stuff than you want — more paper, more books, more email, more commitments, more bills? If you’re trying to manifest abundance, stop! It’s already here! Most people I know have more to do in one week than a person could truly appreciate in a month or more.

This isn’t what we imagine abundance should look like. Personally, I imagined lying on a lounge chair on a warm beach, sipping something with a tiny umbrella in it. Ahhh.

But the abundance I have (and maybe you do too) is not the least bit relaxing. I never imagined that “abundance” would masquerade through my life as a cluttered stress-ball, but there it is.

Give me simplicity.

For many, the road from to simplicity is rocky. We like having things. We like being wanted. “I’m busy” makes us feel important. It can be hard to let go of the short-term payoffs, but this much intensity can create overwhelm in the long run.

Ask anyone whose desk is so full of paper and treasures that they can’t complete their taxes on time and are scrambling for an extension. Ask anyone who, literally, can’t find time to pee. It isn’t the kind of abundance they wanted, either, and it can suck the joy out of life.

The #1 sneaky lie that attracts overwhelm: “I can fit it in.”

If you hear yourself say these words, freeze. This is your ego speaking.

The ego is a very specific kind of master: a task master. The ego doesn’t want simplicity, it craves complexity and drama. It wants you to be overextended.

If you want more simplicity in your life, you can beat the ego at its own game so you can act upon your deeper desires.

To do this, first it’s important to know how letting the ego rule your life and your calendar affects you.

Consequence 1: Antagonizing loved ones and strangers

The more we attempt to fit in, the greater the chances the fight-or-flight response getting triggered.

Stress from over-commitment brings out the worst in people. Instead of being present, we’re testy. Instead of accepting, irritable. Instead of forgiving, we guilt-trip. Sometimes we hold those feelings in, which hurts our own hearts as well.

Consequence 2: Missed opportunities for connection

One night last week, Inspired Spouse came into my office to talk while I was finishing up “one last thing” that I “needed” to do. Truthfully, I heard only every 4th word and listened just enough to appease. Later, I realized that I’d missed a precious opportunity to meaningfullyconnect with my Most Important Person.

When we hurry, we miss opportunities to connect.

Consequence 3: Engaging in risky behaviors

While we’re over-committed and feeling rushed, we hurry to catch up. Traffic laws become negotiable. We tailgate. We cut people off in traffic. We speed. Suddenly our urgency is at the expense of others’ needs, including our own safety.

Consequence 4: Satisfaction denied

Cramming more to-dos into your day deprives you of the satisfaction of completing a job or task thoroughly. Many people don’t stop long enough to enjoy the feeling of completion, before rushing headlong into whatever is next. Life becomes an endless, depressing mound of stuff to do before we die.

Consequence 5: Craving more. Andmoreandmore.

It’s been proven that the faster a person eats, the greater the likelihood of overeating. The same could be said for internet usage, TV watching, gambling, reading, et cetera. When we rush to cram it all in, we immediately start to crave more because we never really have it in the first place. We’re not present enough.

Geneen Roth wisely said, “You can’t have enough of what you don’t really want.” She was speaking of food specifically — that no amount of Oreos can equal a relaxing soak in the tub. This applies to lots of other things, too. No amount of money can feel like love. Even 100 completed “to-dos” doesn’t feel like a talk with a good friend.

So what?

None of these observations is intended to convey that doing stuff is bad. On the contrary. Doing stuff is good, so long as it’s not done at the expense of your spirit and others who share the planet with you. I know that’s a tall order. I’m working on it myself.

Alternatives to “fitting it all in”:

Instead of cramming more into your day or onto your desk, here are a few suggestions to prevent “fitting more in.”

Know Your Limits

Reflect on how many hours of work will sustain you without creating burnout. Do you know how many social engagements can you handle each month and still enjoy yourself? Think about how many activities you really want to drive your kids to every week. When you have some limits established, it can be easier to maintain a healthy schedule and work load.

Build in Buffer Time

Instead of scheduling your plans and tasks back-to-back, plan for things to take longer. My weekly appointment is a 20-minute drive, but traffic is always sketchy. When I started giving myself 30 minutes for the drive, I stopped driving like a speed demon and arrived calmer. Where might you need some buffer time?

Practice Pausing

Whether someone is asking for your time, or you’ve got something to add to your plate, catch yourself in the moment (when you can) and ask:

Do I have to fit this in?

Do I want to?

Do I need (life or death) to do this?

You may choose the same way as before, but bringing consciousness to your choices makes you feel more empowered and less a victim of your “to-dos”.

Practice Saying “No” Kindly

Most people think that if they’re asked, they should say yes. If you know that your week is at capacity, saying yes can push us over the edge. Saying “no” doesn’t have to be negative. When someone asks you to get together, focus on the intention behind the ask. Don’t assume that you are the only one who can handle it. Negotiate. (hint: I’m planning a fun event on this topic soon!)

Stop to Celebrate and Acknowledge Your Efforts

Instead of rushing to the next thing, it can be profoundly satisfying to stop long enough to appreciate your efforts and recognize your accomplishments. Sometimes I ask others to do the same for me when I have a hard time believing it myself.

In the end…

… the contented life isn’t about having more, it’s having less and appreciating how abundant that really is.

May your week be less packed and your life more full.

Warmly,

Jennifer

—————————————————————

One way to have less and appreciate more is to clear your space. So, if you feel like chaos is winning and you’d like to turn things around, check out my new Creativity Plus Organization Power Pack.

I’m giving an introductory offer of 50% off – but only for the first 30 orders. After that, it pops up to full price. Treat yourself and your creative flow to more for less…