I’ll admit I’m feeling like I got way more than an artists’ pat on the back after I woke up this morning. I started my day, coffee in hand (Italian roast from Starbucks), to a note from one of my peers… someone I genuinely like, respect, and admire on a personal and professional level. I won’t bore you with the particular compliment she gave my work but suffice to say it was perhaps the most rocking notes of praise I think I’ve ever received. I was really floored reading it!

I know this sounds like a left-handed way of tooting my own horn but anybody that knows me knows that, as a freelance artist and owner of his own business, it’s part-and-parcel of my day to always find some little way to self-promote and blab on about myself. It’s an annoying fact of life that one must constantly find little ways of saying “look at me – look at me!” in order to drum up one’s own business. So, let it be understood that if I wanted to pat myself on the back it’d be more annoying and blatant than this – as any of my eye-rolling peers and friends could attest to.

No, quite the opposite. I’m humbled almost to the point where I don’t know what to say. Or, at least how to say “thank you” in a better way than merely those two words.

It’s because of this that I ended up pondering something that’s very meaningful to me…

I’ve always appreciated kind remarks about my work. Who wouldn’t? We all do. Some people have been very kind to me and I appreciate every word, so never let it be said I wasn’t as grateful as a person could be. I sometimes labor over a piece of art for days or weeks. Sometimes it just pops into existence in a short amount of time. However, I always have a personal investment in what I create. So, like many artists, there’s a part of me that feels the weight of both criticism and praise when someone sees my work. It’s hard not to.

I love it when a person enjoys something I create whether it be an average Jane or Joe on the street or a client reviewing my final product. It always feels great. However, there’s something particularly special that happens when a peer gives you a thumbs-up. It’s almost like the feeling of “I’ve made it” all over again. I dare say it’s one of those “my first dollar” moments when someone you respect and consider capable of doing so much more than I’m capable of says they like your work in the emphatic way that this morning’s note did.

To this person I say thank you. I’m truly honored. I think they overestimate me but to evoke a happiness and appreciation in someone who’s own business it is to do exactly the same thing (and they do it so well) is deeply gratifying.

So, the point of all this is, I know raking in the dough is all well and good. It’s great to have satisfied customers and clients. That’s what we do and that’s what we signed up to accomplish. However, please don’t forget that whether you intend to or not, working hard to gain the respect of people you respect is probably so much more important because, it seems to me, that if you surround yourself with your heroes and they feel you are part of that group… all other denominators of success and accomplishment probably fall naturally into place. It’s a wonderful side effect.

Thanks to M.E.G. for making me reflect on this.

…and likewise.