Never Give Up
I’ve always had a dream to make a living from my art.
Instead of wishing and hoping for it, I started sweating and fighting for it, later learning I exhibit what is known as grit.
Angela Duckworth defines grit as passion and sustained persistence applied toward long-term achievement, with no particular concern for rewards or recognition along the way.
I humbled myself and stretched myself.
Willing to grow, willing to fail and never giving up.
Year after year, day & night… 21 trips around the sun.
Formerly paying a little too much attention to the small percentage of the haters.
Currently learning from my community to keep focus on the positive.
With a commitment to make a better set up not only for myself, but for the team I'm a part of.
Being a creative entrepreneur with grit
One of my favorite parts of being a creative entrepreneur is the community I have the pleasure of being a member of. There’s magic when you encounter a fellow builder & dreamer. Able to relate to their excitement paired with vision - just as equally their challenges and struggles. Life will never guarantee that you succeed, but when you build a community with people that share common values, this is where the magic happens.
Angela Duckworth continues to place context to grit by shedding light on what isn’t grit, and it’s here where when I talk about magic, what I’m really talking about is when you’re in the belly of grit:
“Instead, grit is about having what some researchers call an”ultimate concern”–a goal you care about so much that it organizes and gives meaning to almost everything you do. And grit is holding steadfast to that goal. Even when you fall down. Even when you screw up. Even when progress toward that goal is halting or slow.
Talent and luck matter to success. But talent and luck are no guarantee of grit. And in the very long run, I think grit may matter at least as much, if not more.”
Mosaic Candy Shop
My trifecta to this whole world of art and mosaics and the path to bringing play to my community is through a brand I’ve been nurturing behind the scenes called Mosaic Candy Shop. I’ll just pause and let you relish in the name and all the nostalgia that brings forth to the kid in you and how it lands. My wish for you is that you can experience that joy you felt as a kid in one of those candy shops, only this trip is one that is all about the eye candy and tapping into the creative side of you when you color inside and outside of the lines.
"It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child." ~Pablo Picasso
Note to Self: Never Give Up. Play is important. Shine On! Move forward when it's messy and it'll all work out, kid.
