Wednesday, September 13, 2006

OLDIE #7 REJECTION (OR PTRS)

One of my fav oldies....
Like the basic black dress
it's a post that never goes out of style
but addresses (lol pun alert)!
Black dress - addresses, lol)
a topic that tortures all artist
established or new....
Odlie 7 REJECTION (or PTRS)
2004-03-04 - 7:30 a.m.
Fear of failure....
A client (who's become a close friend!) and I were recently discussing
professional rejection - you know the dreaded 'your work is lovely,
we'll let you know...' that ends in a thick envelope of returned slides
generally accompanied by a single limp piece of paper full of check
marks in the 'rejected' column. Speaking for myself I have enough of
these letters to wallpaper a room (or two).
I think it's one of the more difficult
aspects of being in business for yourself ~ this process of
putting your work out in the world for the publishers to publish
and/or for the public to adore and (hopefully) adopt.
You and you alone are 'it' from the first design draft to
the submissions/hopeful waiting to success or rejection.
And you're the only one to deal with the PTRS
(post traumatic rejection stress, lol).
It's something working
in the corporate world spares you.
If 'the company' (fill in the name) loses clients, business,
profits, accounts, employees it's obviously the 'fault' of
management' thereby insulating you from agony and angst on
a personal responsibility level. But the arrows head for
you and you alone when you are in biz for yourself
or are self promoting your art, your dream your vision.
Me, I'm particularly insane, as I do both.
I run my own business which offers
and promotes my art, heart, soul, dream.
But I have a theory (don't I always?! lol)
I think that rejection, a tough form of responsibility, makes
you stronger, makes you sharper, and encourages and forces
you to higher levels of skill in business, marketing, creativity
and emotional growth. All of which are
(IMHO) solid artistic, business and life skills.
Fear whispers
'you'll never be able to succeed on your own'
but I think of a quote
of Dave Barrys (which I edited slightly).....
"Never be afraid to try something on your own.
Remember a large group of professionals built the Titanic".
Dave Barry
Rejection, like pain, confirms you're out there trying and
alive in the midst of the adventure! So my advice to
anyone with a love of art and the desire to sell it?
Simple... just tell fear to 'fluff off'!
(and pick a room that you think will look good
decorated in 'rejection-letter-wallpaper..roflmao).
If you persist the time will come when
successes will outnumber the rejections.
Hope your day is a good one :-)

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous8:25 AM

    PTRS is definitely a way to bring you back into the harsh reality life from the beaded cocoons that we build!

    I like the new blog format. . . very nice indeed!

    hugs,
    Sammi

    ReplyDelete