You Don't Have to Say Yes to Everything
Because not everything is the right fit... even when you want it to be.
Case in point. Me + art markets.
Two months of preparation. Two weeks with not enough sleep. Hundreds invested in materials and printing.
Several hours of introvert-specific torture… awkwardly watching as people walked by with judgments on the works I pulled from my soul.
OK, that’s slightly melodramatic… but I get punchy when I’m over tired.
I stood there wondering… do I interrupt and say hi? Make cringeworthy small talk with total strangers? Or leave them to walk by in peace while I flash back to the junior high cafeteria where I was completely out of place.
I met some precious people. I got to see friends. I sold a few things.
But, y’all, every time I try a market, I swear I will never do it again. Because it just isn’t worth the trade off.
(Artists and artisans who make this their bread and butter, I think they have superhero capes hidden somewhere).
Here’s the truth.
We can’t say yes to everything. Because when we say yes to everything, we wind up saying yes to nothing.
And, spicy opinion. We will never own our yes, until we own our no first.
It is our NO that gives our YES space.
Maybe you can relate.
My creative growth is limited by the things I say yes to that push being and creating down the priority list.
Some seasons these things are outside of our control. Caregiving for loved ones, medical challenges… Life comes with ebbs and flows and cat 4 hurricanes.
But you know what is inside of my control 254%?
Art markets.
Just because it works for 92.7% of other people doesn’t mean it is the right decision for me.
Or you.
Dear Creatives,
This is short because I’m art market frazzled, focus-fried, and generally conversationally hungover.
Not every good thing is necessarily good for your creativity right now. You don’t have to say yes to what is out of season or step for where you are now.
If you need to press pause or redesign what works for you, you get to do that.
There are no art-making police coming to check on your progress.
You and I, we, are free to say no to even genuinely good things so we can say yes to better things.
I’m saying no to art markets in this season.
No to overscheduling. No to overcommitting. No to noise and all that splits my attention into muddled pie pieces.
So I can say yes to being here. Yes to creating. Yes to slowly staring at sunset skies. Yes, to growing THIS space.
What’s the smallest, tiniest thing you can say no to that’s in your control to make even a little more space for something even better?
What a beautiful honest post. I think we’ve all been ‘there’ - putting ourselves out there (creatively or otherwise) where people discount the ‘heart and soul’ behind our being…or they don’t even care to look for it!
I’m glad you found the line to draw - your ‘no more’ line. Everything you pour into your ‘no more’ bucket, sucks the joy and energy from your ‘fill me up’ bucket.
Breathe. It’s such an empowering feeling to say no to the things that exhaust us (emotionally and physically) to make room for the things that just bring us joy.
Imagine how the world benefits from our lights shining just a little more brightly. Shine on!
I totally related to your post and I think as creatives we want our hard work to be seen and appreciated but not every venue presents those opportunities. I think that people who don’t create art understand sometimes the hard work , heart, soul and passion that goes into creating and how hurtful it is to make disparaging comments about your work as if you are not standing there . I gave up
Doing art fairs for this very reason . It crushed me to hear peoples comments and sowed seed of doubt in my abilities. . Quite honestly , I absolutely love your work and i was hoping you would be selling these online . I would love to purchase one for my new soon to be born granddaughter. Please let us know because I am sure others in our wonderful uplifting community you have put together feel the same way