Do you remember as a kid lying on the couch with your feet up in the air and your head down by the floor?
Didn’t you love the different perspective of the ceiling and parts of the room you usually didn’t notice?
I always loved hanging upside down on the monkey bars and seeing how different everything looked from that perspective.
Perspective.
I feel like I saw the world with a different perspective when I went to Alt a few weeks ago.
The Altitude Design Summit was something that I had never heard of and my friend Alexis actually talked me into going.
{I am so glad she did}
When I usually attend shows or art retreats I usually know most of the people and they know me.
When I went to Alt NO ONE knew who I was and truth be told….I knew NO ONE either except for some of the session panelists {and I didn’t know any of them personally}.
I wasn’t impressed with meeting so and so….I didn’t know who was the hottest blog there….I didn’t know who is amazing in the design world etc.
It was awesome!
No one there had ever read my blog, bought anything from my shop or knew anyone that knew me.
I went with a few friends and then I left knowing a whole lot more.
I watched an editor {that in my world is a pretty big deal} walk through the crowds without being noticed.
That must have been such a different experience for her.
In the world we were in that weekend..she was just another person at the conference.
At other events I have been to she would have been mobbed and people would be pushing themselves [and their businesses} on her.
In the same breath one of the people there could have mentioned the hottest editor etc. that I wouldn’t know either.
Isn’t it nice to have the reality check that our little worlds that we think are so important are tiny….really, really tiny!!
I was in a round table discussion about licensing when someone brought up Demdaco.
A few people didn’t know who Demdaco was and I piped in that they carry Kelly Rae Roberts and everyone…EVERYONE…around the table said…”who is she”?
While I was at Alt one of my friends said, “There needs to be something like Alt for the art world” and I said “No, we need to get the art world here”.
I was able to meet the most incredible and creative people that I would have never met if I would have only stayed in my little world.
They were all artists too….just in a different realm.
If you think you are hot stuff….if you think everyone knows you…..if you think everyone knows everyone that you know…..go someplace that no one does and I promise you it will change your perspective!
{on a side note…I do not think I am hot stuff or that everyone knows me…and my perspective still changed;-)}
Love this post . . . . . .
I’ve lived in 2 places in my life where the famous mixed with the regular folks. Many people do not know the famous artists who have been part of my life, which is just fine. Several major artists have been part of my life at various points. When I see political people on the national news I feel kind of good/connected because I have met them personally at various times, had conversations, eaten lunch and so on. What I have taken away from this is that we all are just people after all with bad hair days and lousy decisions made as well as the gifts we bring into the world. I liked living where celebrities, artists, and politicians just walked around unnoticed. It leveled the field and helped me recognise that I could be them and they were really me, too, just living in the same community.
Perspective is a pretty powerful thing. And, for the record, I bet most of your readers/followers think your “hot stuff”…I do;)
P.S. My prints arrived yesterday…love, love, love them! And even better, my girls loved them, too{I bought the prints for them}!!
A healthy dose of perspective never hurt anyone! I hope to try to be more adventurous this year and step out of my comfort zone, thanks for the post, Jeanne. BTW, can you please tell me if you made your burlap curtains from regular inexpensive burlap at JoAnn’s or Wal-Mart? I’ve been admiring yours for a while. Do they shed a lot? I’m thinking about making burlap curtains but hesitate because I imagine they shed as much as my dog!!
Great post Jeanne and SO SO true!!! For what it’s worth, you’re hot stuff to me:)
i love your new blog! & site! so s fun!…& as always, i love your words 🙂
Jeanne you are hot stuff 😉 Great post, also reminds people to step out of their comfort zone on occasion and be surprized at where it takes them..Last year I went to an Artists retreat all by myself, every day at lunch I managed to meet someone new. No one knew me and I didn’t know them, except for one or two of the “teachers” who I knew through publications in the art world. It was wonderful! Hope you are doing well w/ the Spring Line.
so true, jeanne. good for us all!
Hey hot stuff 😉
Great post and so, so important. I might need to head to Alt sometime. I’m feeling a very new perspective these days with the art-making…the photography industry is SO SMALL and it’s always the same people people being featured…it the images seem to look the same to me, blending all together. I really appreciate the art world for it’s originality…so many differences. The photography industry (the portrait world, anyway) could learn a ton from the artsy sect.
oxoxoxo
let’s talk soon regarding March!!
Lara
I always love some new perspective. There are so many wonderful and talented people out there with so much to share. I have to go to that next year!
I still you’re hot stuff! 😉
Oops! That’s supposed to say that I still THINK you’re hot stuff. Doh! Too early in the morning for me.
what an awesome post jeanne!