A couple friends congratulated me on my success at the show. I probably responded to them not nicely, because I did not feel successful. Their comments and my response to them stopped me in my tracks, so to speak, and called me to examine this thing called success.
Is success the achievement of a goal? Is it accomplishing something that one has wanted to do, such as a bucket list item? Is it something purely internal, perhaps defined in personal terms and not always measurable? Is there a spiritual aspect to success?
If I use accomplishment as the only criteria for success, then "doing" that show and being there was a success. But (there's always a but), participating in a craft show brings the desire to sell one's wares and make money, to make a profit over expenses. In our culture, that would be the only measure of success at a craft show. Using that measure, my show experience was not a success. And it is too easy to fall into the trap of that cultural view. That view can easily lead to negativity and unhealthy reflections on one's self and can be self-destructive. Not what I want.
As I have struggled with all this for the past few days, I have heard echoes from my past, of my own voice as I taught The Artist's Way to many, echoes of how creative people deal with disappointment and failure. Studies (those infamous authorities) have shown that highly creative people are able to reframe failures, to turn them around, and to view them differently to be able to feed the future in a positive way. Well, I am pretty creative and I've been listening to what I teach. I cannot change the monetary results of the show, but I can and I must change my recollection of this past weekend.
It would be wonderful if I had a video of all the visitors to my booth this past weekend so that I could replay our interactions and hear and see what happened. With a booth filled with quilts, I attracted many quilters who admired my work and wanted to know more about what I do and how I work. We talked about about colors and fabrics, about my hand dyed fabrics, about free motion quilting, about design, about the need for a design wall, about inspiration and about the need to practice and to JUST DO IT a lot. I talked, I shared and I listened. I was present to those people and I enjoyed myself.
There is something about being in the right place at the right time, maybe for reasons we don't plan or realize for a while. I believe that was my success this past weekend - to be there for others. That might sound loftly, but it feels right to me.
How do you define success?
Karen
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