Measuring Success: Here Comes the Judge

In my last blog I talked about measuring success. It's all relative, correct? What about when you (or me) is the judge?

It is human nature that we measure our (perceived) worth against that of our peers and family in any number of situations. Think wealth, looks, jobs, children, etc. Case in point: the Art Show.

On Saturday I am one of 3 judges of over 80 artists and artisans at a show in my area. Oh, No. What was I thinking? This is not a good idea for several reasons:

1] Everyone worked so hard and paid a fee to be there, so I believe they are all winners. How am I supposed to pick just a few?
2) The amount of time I have to consider all this work is short and (see above) no matter what their work looks like, they deserve respect for being there.
3) Who am I to be in charge of looking at this work and awarding prizes?

Once again, we are back to measuring success. Maybe the TRUE measure of success is to be in the moment and to be happy to be there. The Dalai Lama talks of relativity: the wealthy man can have a really rich meal and have indigestion; the poor man can have simple meal and know a full, happy belly.

I hope on Saturday I'm able to recognize efforts and hard work and encourage creativity in everyone who participated!

Measuring Success

WOW! This is a pretty big topic to take on, so I believe I'll just dip a toe in and see how the water feels.

In the last fortnight I attended the opening at the Museum of Florida Art and I had a booth at the Boards & Waves Expo. Both events were fabulous good fun, as far as I was concerned. However, the big issue always comes up: SALES. "Are you selling anything?"

This is how some (okay, lots) of people measure success. Money in the art world is tied to myriad definitions of success. Maybe success is making enough lighthouse paintings to make the mortgage but not have a day job. Maybe success is huge worldwide recognition and acclaim with all the ass-kissing in the world. Maybe success is making the booth fee.

I don't know. Truth be told, all of those thoughts flash through my head at some point or another in the process. It's pretty easy to go from a Vincent state of mind (one sale in his lifetime) to Salvador success (everything that man touched was pure gold) in the blink of an eye.

Did I make my booth fee? Sort of. Did I recoup all my expenses? No. Did I make new friends and find new creative ventures to explore? Yes. Do I believe that the venture was a success? Yes. What do you think?

I'd like to close with one of my favorite quotes:

"Love what you do. Believe in your instincts. And you'd better be able to pick yourself up and brush yourself off every day." -Mario Andretti