Word of the Year: Permission and Persistence

Note: December is Word-of-the-Year Month at Christine’s Blog.  As we roll into another New Year, each day will feature a new guest blogger who chose one word as a way of setting intention for her whole year.  Today’s guest is Andrea Stern. More about Andrea below.

My words are Permission and Persistence.

In the words of Natalie Wood’s character from Miracle on 34th Street, “I know I know. If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.”  I can’t tell you how many times my mom would say that to me when I was a little kid, and even times when I was a bigger kid (in my heart I am still somewhere between 12-14 but that is a whole ‘nother story).  And I would try.  And sometimes try again, but I would eventually give up.  (“This stuff doesn’t work for me!”)

The long lesson of this word began 8 years ago this month, when my grandmother was stricken with a catastrophic stroke and passed away on November 3, 2000. It was so sudden and so unexpected that our whole family was in shock. As in any time of a major life change (and earlier that year my husband had been fired from his job at Staples, so 2000 was one heck of a year for me) I felt myself searching for something new, something to help ground myself.

In this case, it turned out to be knitting. I found  by The Knitting Goddess by Deborah Bergman while browsing at Barnes & Noble that December. My gut feeling said, “This is what you’re looking for.”  I chose to ignore the feeling, but when I found myself obsessed with the book, I ended up buying it and learning, after how many years, to knit.

It took patience.  It took persistence. It took permission to not be perfect from the start. It was hard, and I struggled with the two needles as opposed to the single hook of my beloved crochet, but I was determined to not give up. With the help of the internet, I eventually learned how to knit, purl and cast off (casting on was easy, but it was the only easy part).

Fast forward 8 years. In the interim, I not only learned to knit, but also was able to stick to an eating and workout regimen that led to a loss of over 100 pounds!  Neither action was quick, nor was it easy (many many tearful frustrated calls to my parents over the slowness of the weight loss, but it has stayed off) but I learned the value of “try try again” in that time.

This year I decided to apply this “training effect” to my artwork and my marketing of that work.

In fits and starts I have given myself the permission to make the work that makes my heart sing. (As opposed to the “make work” of creating beaded brooches for gallery shop sales – which, while fun – isn’t what I feel is my heart’s work).

I have persisted in sending out the work for galleries (The first time ever. Guess that is permission, too. Permission to let others see the work and potentially reject it.)  I also persisted in searching for ways to make money from home with my work to help support us during this period of Marty’s job hunt.

It has begun to pay off in ways I hadn’t even begun to imagine…

•  In February, I submitted designs for an two jewelry  books and had 9 pieces accepted.

•  In March, I set the intention (in the prayer circle at Christine’s retreat that month) to create gallery quality work , and the next day I had received an invitation to send my hats for a museum show in 2009.

•  In July, I won 2nd Best of Show in the largest attended art show in the state, with one of the pieces that was heart’s work as opposed to “make work.”

•  I have heard from several of the galleries I sent packets to.  Most have said “not now,” but I have been accepted by one gallery in Houston.

•  I have designed multiple projects for a craft publisher and been able to keep the kids in clothes and food with the money I’ve received for doing so.

•  And in September, following that gut instinct, I clicked on a few links from the Robert Genn newsletter and now have gallery representation in my own state, and have my first show scheduled with them for January.

Last month, before sending my intention for that retreat’s prayer circle, I made a list of everything I had accomplished in the 6 months between retreats. I was gobsmacked at the strides I’ve made.  They  happened almost effortlessly when I was willing to allow (maybe my word for 2009), to show up and do the work and let the Universe do the rest.

Permission and Persistence have paid off in ways I never even imagined when I first chose those words back in January. I am excited to see what the next 3 months will bring.

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Andrea L. Stern Bio:

I grew up surrounded by a family who made art in one form or another.  It was inevitable that I would grow up to make some kind of art myself.  I started with simple drawings and soon progressed to painting, beadwork and quilting. I received a formal degree in Art History in 1990, but it wasn’t until owning my own bead business that I really learned to apply the principles of design that I had learned in school.  Examples of my work are available at my blog and my website.

Tagged as: art business, Creativity, word-of-the-year

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