Professional used to have an allure of conservative confidence instantly recognizable by the dark blue suit, skirt just below the knees, the sensible heels, perhaps pearl earrings and a thin chain of gold peeking beneath a scarf.

It was warm but reserved, attentive but distant, confident and quietly cagey. (I think it was called getting “the upper hand.”)

Then virtual reality came along and…

Several years ago I made a commitment to myself. I decided that no matter what, I would always expect, and look for, the silver lining of any event that had the potential to present itself as a problem.

And here I have to make a distinction between a silver lining (or, as Maya Angelo sings it: the rainbow behind every cloud) and the rose-colored glasses that my Pollyanna, painter mother wore with a flair.

Rose-colored glasses treat all events alike and blur the boundaries of contrast and challenge.

A silver lining, on the other hand, is the event inside an event that just happened, often not showing its sparkling face until the first event is over.

Here’s an example from yesterday, an ordinary day spent doing ordinary things, like unloading dishes.

I was pulling a small glass vase out of the dishwasher when it

A while ago, I was reading a book that a neighbor of my daughter’s thought I’d enjoy– Fire Starter Sessions by Danielle Laporte.

It’s what I’d characterize as a cheerleader, self help, get yourself grounded and growing book. Then I came to a section where Laport says You’re an artist and that’s that!

This is how she starts out: “Art-making is not strictly about visual creations and producing material things. Every single one of us is an artist at something.  We lost ourselves in the creation of it, we’re gifted at making it, we feel closer to ourselves and to a

I’m asking this question, in the headline, because I really want to know.

As an artist, what have you understood over the years about your relationship to your art?

Has there been a story line weaving its way through your art career? Or have you noticed seasons of relationships with your art? A winter mode, perhaps. Or summer solstice festivities?

Does your relationship with your art, in any way, mirror your other significant relationships?

Are there highs and lows… and what’s your style of dealing with either?

Would you say there’s passion or have you slipped into