Question of the month: What is the best advice you ever got?
January 2, 2009 by Cyndi Lavin
Filed under Home & Living
Since it’s the beginning of a brand new year, I thought we should think about the past for a moment. After all, if we’re going to set new year’s resolutions (yeah, yeah, I know it’s corny, but I do it!), shouldn’t we think back and reflect on what has actually worked for us in the past?
As far as my art and jewelry career goes, the best advice I ever got was to enter contests and calls for entries, especially those that cost me nothing but time. Why the heck not? Not winning doesn’t really hurt that much, and winning is really really cool.
So what’s the best piece of advice you ever got? It doesn’t have to be about mixed media art, but it can be. If you’d like to share your moment, you can either leave me a comment below, or email me your advice, along with your link and an image of your work that you’d like to share. Send it to cyndi @ b5Media.com (remove the spaces) and please use the subject heading LUL advice.
The best advice I received was in the last 2 years: start a blog. Actually, I was kind of dragged kicking and screaming into it. Now it is a part of my day, every day, in one way or another, and I have made such amazing connections to other artists (yourself included).
By the way, I’d better add that I got the advice from my son, who put his money where his mouth was. He set up the initial blog for me (and a bunch of other stuff). I think he might seeing this admission in print.
LOL!! Carol, that was great advice! That’s where I meet most of my new art friends too
The best advice was from my dad. He always told us it’s best to keep busy, keep working. I didn’t appreciate how true that is until I tried retirement.
I thank God – and Dad – that I went back to work 8 years ago and am not dependent on my investments like so many of my friends.
This is my 3rd career (teaching, finance and now art) and I’m just lovin’ it!
Eileen, your Dad gave you some wicked good advice. I can’t quite picture what my retirement is going to look like, but probably not too different from right now
My best advice I ever got:
Stop spending all your time cleaning those hand prints off the walls, because they will only go up so high, before they stop all together.
I took this to mean: Do not spend all your time cleaning up after them, spend more time making messes with them, because it will all end, and then you are left with no memories of the mess.
Great question of the month!
Suzanne, that is the truest advice in the world. I simply can’t believe how quickly those years went. now one of my little mess-makers has made a new little mess-maker of his own!! And my younger little mess-maker is finishing up college, majoring in mess-making. Unbelievable!
tHE BEST ADVICE I EVER RECEIVED WAS WHEN SOMEONE TOLD ME, “DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ”…. OH, WAIT, THAT WAS IN A BOOK TOO! I GUESS I CAN STILL GO WITH THAT ONE.
The best Art-related advice was to only make important pots, careful pots, worthy pots. I think about this when I am tempted to try to save a slightly crooked pot. It’s better to toss it and start over.
The best life advice was to take time to listen.
Jason, LOL!
Elaine, that is *so* hard to do sometimes, especially when I’ve invested a lot of time into a project that seems to be heading south. But it’s the only way to be a professional about my work. Thanks!
The best advice I got last year was to “STOP WORRING ABOUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK AND START CREATING WITH YOUR SOUL.”
I have to tell you that was extremely freeing! And yes, it was shouted at me by my husband, my friend in Wisconsin, my daughter, and then nicely said by 2 or 3 online artists.
I kept thinking, “my art doesn’t look anything like…” and what I forgot to put into the equation was the fact that “it shouldn’t”. I am not, I was not, I will never be “them”. I am me.