Becoming an Artpreneur

What would 2020 look like if everyone in your organization were able to look into the future and see possibilities? Do you think it would change the outcome of your year? I do.

Remember those Magic Eye books? Do you remember how willing we were to look completely ridiculous? We brought the book to our nose, and sloooooowly pulled it away, hoping to see it. We didn’t know what the it was we were looking for. We only knew the elusive it was promised to us if we followed the directions. Some of us repeated this procedure countless times without ever seeing anything. (Ok, true confessions, it was me). I saw nothing for days. Even weeks. Nothing.

I can fail to see something right before my eyes.

Curiosity drove me to keep trying. Everyone else was seeing it. Why couldn’t I? At last, the Aha Moment that changed everything. Gaw! I was working too hard all along. If I had just chilled and relaxed my eyes, I would have seen the 3D images pop a long time ago. I turned the page. I began to see them all, as if I never struggled in the first place.

The experience was proof, as John Lubbock says, “What we see depends on what we are looking for.” Sometimes we are trying too hard. Other times we are so obsessed with finding a specific something, that we miss the rather obvious. (I’m sure you have seen this selective attention test.)

The universe is hidden in plain sight. We are distracted, and our attention is elsewhere. We miss the unexpected.

But what if we EXPECTED the unexpected?

Just because light hits your retina doesn’t mean you are seeing. Seeing is perception. It goes well beyond looking. Looking is casual observance. Seeing is looking at something intentionally. The difference between the two is the difference between seeing dots and connecting the dots. Seeing attaches meaning to something, and this meaning moves the seer. To look is to search. To see is to find. Looking is observation. Seeing is a conclusion. I can see a thing formally. And I can see a thing contextually. Seeing is understanding.

It is not what we see. It is how we see.

Curiosity is key here. Nothing interesting begins with knowing–it begins with precisely the opposite–with not knowing. Sure, uncertainty is avoided if you stay in the safe place, but uncertainty is the only place creativity begins.

Each person has a unique window into the world that no one else is looking through. Your knowledge and your experiences and your background are different from everyone else’s. Therefore, you see and perceive things differently than every other person. This unique perception means everyone has the capacity for an epiphany, and for seeing the extraordinary. Isn’t that encouraging? Every single person has the capacity to see new possibilities.

The difference between looking and seeing is the fundamental difference between an Entrepreneur and an Artpreneur. If we could give you anything for 2020, we would give you a 2020 vision of the future. 2020 Vision is not seeing the world exactly as it is. It is seeing the world as it could be. It employs creativity, intuition, and imagination.

We don’t always know what we are looking for. That’s ok. May you have the courage to look absolutely ridiculous while you are searching for it.

May 2020 be the year that you see new possibilities! May 2020 be the year that you see everything in a different light. May 2020 be the year you expect the unexpected. May 2020 be the year that you, yourself, become an Artpreneur. May your 2020 be bright and filled with light.

We wish you 2020 in 2020!