A couple of months ago I asked my friends on Facebook how they approach finding the answer to a difficult decision.
I got a wealth of wonderful suggestions such as trusting yourself, follow your heart, what makes you happy or what gives you peace. Talk it over with your significant other or a friend. Ask yourself how you would advise a friend. Ask a Clearness Committee as Quakers do (this is a great approach I was not familiar with). Make a list with the pros and cons, sleep over it, pray or meditate. Picture yourself in the situation after you already made your decision. How will you feel 10 years from now? Choose one way and move forward with no regrets.
My “dilemma” was that for years I had dreamed about renting an artist studio. Here in Durham we have a re-purposed building complex that once was a textile mill named the Golden Belt as the factory workers there sewed tobacco pouches. The buildings were renovated to high end apartments, a loft space for events like wedding receptions, several office spaces and 35 artist studios. It is a beautiful space with large windows and lots of natural light, exposed duct work and wooden ceilings. Every time I visited the studios my heart was pounding faster. BUT… There is the cost of leasing a studio, the cost of equipping it even if I move most of my home-based studio into the rented space, the cost of hosting a reception for the monthly art walk in town. Sure, being in an artist community fills you with new energy and having people visit equals exposure (and occasionally a sale). HOWEVER, I’m an introvert, how will I handle the logistics of family life and a job outside my home, and how well will my dogs adjust? Is this the right time? How could I align my head and my heart?
Then I saw a quote and it held the answer. “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk to blossom.”
If I wait for the perfect circumstances then there will never be the “right” time. Therefore, I decided to make a leap of faith now! Will this be the right decision? I don’t know. I can only find out by going forward and analyzing in retrospect. One other piece of advice stayed with me: make a choice now and if later it turns out to be the wrong choice remember you can make a new decision to change your direction. Nothing is permanent!
By now I have moved into my new studio and every time I’m there I smile because it feels so right. Only time will tell if things work out in the long run. Until then, I take the chance to blossom!
Would love to see pictures of your studio..