Butterflies
By
Last night I completed the second beta test of my collage tele-workshop (I really DO need to decide on the name for it!) with members of the R & D Squad.
It went quite well and I got some really helpful feedback.
At the end several participants were kindly saying how much they enjoyed it–even though they had butterflies about it all day in anticipation–a little excited, a little nervous.
Maybe even a lot nervous.
Me too!
And I realized I forgot that they’d be nervous.
So absorbed in my own nervousness about “being on stage” and teaching over the phone–publicly trying out an idea and a process I’m enamored with–that I forgot that they were taking a risk too.
No one on that call waited to feel safe before they signed up.
They felt uncomfortable and they did it anyway.
WOW! Thank you for that my early beta testers! I’m so grateful for that trust and so respectful of your willingness to take that risk.
And I’m proud of myself too. For birthing an idea from the dark recesses of the creative part of my brain all the way out into the world. Transforming an idea into an actual thing.
And we all survived! And had some fun to boot. Because butterflies are a good thing.
Different but Better
But still, I was pretty wound up the rest of the evening.
I watched the last episode of “24″ standing up. I brought out the garbage and walked around the block in the dark.
Why? Because I had to recover, I had to get over feeling emotionally naked–of doing my best in front of relative strangers.
This morning I feel like myself again, but better.
Because I’ve expanded my experience and now my outer edges have changed. I have a bigger comfort zone today than I did yesterday, so more is available to me. And that’s neat.
This is always true when you push at the edges of your comfort zone.
When you create.
When you take the risk of doing something that might not work out.
Traveling that road from nascent idea to finished product is a good feeling and it grows you.
I call it The Fine Art of Finishing. Seth Godin calls it “shipping”. The more you ship, the more you know it’s worth doing it.
And now I’ve got a bunch of new friends who took that risk with me. Who also have a bigger comfort zone today than they did yesterday. Who tried my new thing and helped me make it better.
And that’s neat.
Let’s hear it for butterflies.
Butterflies and all, it was a blast! Put up the finished piece on my blog today and linked to your blog.
Yes, I would do it again because with all the time I spend in the studio, I find myself in a very comfortable (and well insulated) box. I do good work but I don’t venture *out* too often.
The class yanked me out and, indeed, I made the conscious decision to use things not typically me and limit myself to three colors of paint…..and it was GREAT!
And I spent the evening wandering around, all pumped and my DH looking at me, clueless to what I was feeling.
The butterflies had lifted me!
XXOO!!
Anne
It was so fun to have you as a part of the beta test Anne–your willingness to let go, enjoy and explore the experience of working so differently from your preferred approach was such an enriching addition to the group…and it made me feel great that you found it fun and successful. And your piece looks so good–and full of love and life!