Sent to E.R. again…
I was sent to the ER again the other day. True story, but that isn't the point of this story. It just sounded way more interesting than, "In Challenge There is Opportunity," but that’s what this is really about.
For preface, in 2019 I came down with Epstien Barr, the virus that causes Mono. Doc said (paraphrased) that I'd surely been exposed to it in my youth so my immune system must be under some type of duress. Whether it was a short term immunity problem or long term, we would just wait and see. Turns out it's long term.
In the big picture, I'm fine. I'm just more susceptible to illness now as well as having a harder time kicking illness when I have it. It lasts longer than the norm.
So the last two weeks I had some weird illness that had me mostly in bed or on the couch. I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say I didn't love it. And I didn't have time to get sick! I had just scheduled an art show a month out and I had lots to do in preparation.
So here's where my message starts. I was mad. I was discouraged. I was anxious. I wondered how I would get it all done because I had made a schedule and now I wasn't able to do the work! It reminded me of another time in 2020 when I had all my art in galleries and all the galleries closed. At that time my art was my only income, so it was a big problem.
What I did in 2020 was collect all my art from the galleries and then spent about 3 or 4 days completely reconstructing my website and adding an online store. I had no idea how to do it. It took a LOT of learning. A lot of trial and error. I experienced a lot of frustration and fear and also some assurance of having at least some control in a volatile and uncontrollable time.
After those 4 days I had pivoted from being a 100% wholesaler to being a 100% retailer with an online store. Of course I had to get the word out but I had the avenues set up to do that already.
I look back at that time and I realize that creating an online store was a pivotal point of growth in my business... which would NOT have happened without the challenge of the galleries closing.
In challenge there was opportunity.
This brings me to my recent challenge. I had a schedule to get everything done for the art show. I got sick. I couldn't work the schedule and heal. I HAD to rest. (intentional rest is still a huge learning curve for me. I feel lame. I always used to power through and I'd get better, but that isn't my reality now.)
I asked myself, "How can I pivot and find opportunity?"
I thought about what I absolutely needed for the show. Did I NEED to create the 13 new pieces I had scheduled myself to make? I already had art at 3 galleries that I could pick up and take to the show. And I had art in my online shop that I'd never taken to a show. And I had 2 brand new lines of art, "Love, Jane" and "MSGs", that were ready to sell.
My conclusion was that I had more than enough art for the show without making a new collection. It was just different art than I had planned on taking. And I asked myself what I could do in bed or on the couch while I was sick and still rest.
So here's what I did from my bed or the couch using my computer and phone:
arranged by text to pick up my art from the galleries
completely reconstructed my website and created a new navigation system
made a list of all the art I'd be taking to the show
figured out where/how I'd display everything at the show
filled out price tags
put prices into my POS system
created 5 emails to begin a new welcome sequence when someone signs up for newsletters
sent out a newsletter
set up a new insta page for "Love, Jane"
created and scheduled a week's worth of social media posts to start advertising for the show
listened to lots of podcasts
My point in telling you all this isn't to rattle off what I accomplished, it's to make sure you know that when you're growing something you love, "bad" stuff will happen. Challenges are inevitable. There will be so many reasons to quit, but there will also be opportunities to shift and grow inside the challenges.
I now have so much done that I never would have taken the time for, had I not gotten sick. And I’ll still be able to have a (hopefully successful) show.
In challenge there is opportunity!
The interesting thing is....I loved doing all the work! I could update my website for fun every day. It's super fun for me. I rested my body and was able to do something I was passionate about. It lit me up and I believe it helped me in the healing process.
I don't know if everything happens for a reason but I do know that I can look for opportunities when hard things happen. I've grown the most in situations that I would never have chosen but had to go through.
What's a challenge you're facing? What opportunities can you find within the challenge? You'll probably have to really look hard for them and they probably won't feel like a positive opportunity at the time. You will most likely feel like things got screwed up and you were left with no other choice if you want to keep your project alive. Reframe your thinking to opportunity rather than failure.
Keep going! I'm rooting for you!
