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Snapshots: Art Career Support and Relationships Artists
in career transition can also bring change to our relationships.
Most often the change is positive. But occasionally career issues cause
tension in our relationships. There is some risk involved in
career transition, and artist career support can help. We may benefit
by discovering new things about ourselves and our alliances.
First and foremost, we need to support our own forays into deeper creativity
and satisfaction in our artist careers. What follows is an interesting
dynamic. We notice who among our family and friends are in support of
our work, and who are not. It can be enlightening--and a little unsettling--to
manage this new territory. We are confronted with how to respond, learning
to let go of certain influences and embrace others. There are effective
strategies for staying true to our career direction while communicating
our needs to significant others. Once-allies may grow distant, others
may draw near. Some allies just need time to absorb our new direction.
It's an interesting road that needn't be full of alienation. In fact,
as an artist consultant coach, I have witnessed relationships become
closer as a bi-product of following a new art career path. Why? I think
it's because when we feel free to live closer to our true creative core,
we are more fun to be around.
It's best to be mindful of what's going on.
When we venture into art career change, whether a seasoned veteran or
a new aspirant, we can expect change in our relationships. One of my
coaching client's marriage was in trouble during a particularly confusing
juncture in his career as a journalist. We were able to sort out his
core focus--to write a novel. He arranged his life so that the book
could become a reality. Well, his marriage tensions eased as a result.
Creative stresses in our art careers (whether exciting or stressful
or both) impact our relationships. It's important to understand what
is going on. For example, it was key for my client to delay making big
decisions about his personal life until he had solved his career confusion.
By solving that first, he was able to gain more perspective on his relationship.
A career coach can support the career change while respecting and shedding
light on its affect on relationships. The artist support process will
raise questions such as: How is my situation affecting my behavior?
How are significant others perceiving and responding to my art career
transition? Is it time to discuss issues openly or would it be wiser
to wait until more clarity comes? Who has a supportive and affirming
attitude toward my creative process and career goals? Who does not have
a supportive an affirming attitude? As an artist career consultant,
I often witness that a little awareness and wisdom go a long way toward
managing our artist career changes.
Know your Creative Voice and who supports it.
Find ways to be in touch with your Creative Voice. Listen to it's messages,
even if only vaporous to begin with. The voice will speak louder, but
only if we listen. We identify the Creative Voice by its thematic features,
and we can all benefit by listening more closely. It's the Voice of
fulfillment, the one that is inter-subjective, supports diversity, seeks
justice, invites, unites, is wonderful, awesome, fascinates, is connective,
is increased by sharing, refreshes, brings flow, joy and creativity.
Bring more people into your life who "love" your goals--the kind of
souls who ask about your work because they are sincerely interested,
not because they are measuring you according to their own standards
of success. Identify the souls who nod because they get what you are
talking about, want to know more, ask good questions, offer thoughtful
responses, who are willing to tell you the truth and can guide you,
wittingly or unwittingly. Be the sort of Creative friend to others that
you hope of others. "Love" their goals and see what happens. Find more
of the open, non-judgmental ones who care about their world and care
to expand horizons with you. When you find them, give all you've got
and let them give to you.
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*Essay by Barbara Bowen of
GatewaysCoaching.com - the definitive artist career consultant.
Contact Barbara with your questions about the creative
process and art career change. She would love to hear from you.*
Copyright ©2009 Barbara Bowen and
Gateways Coaching. All rights reserved.
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