Asking

A friend of mine with a demanding and highly creative job was just assigned by his boss to increase his output by an additional half.


But a fifty percent increase in salary was not part of the deal.


So this highly creative staffer asked for an extra week of vacation a year. The word's out on whether he'll get that.


It sure wouldn't happen if the guy hadn't asked.


This is a reminder, too, that even if an art buyer doesn't have a lot of money, there are lots of valuable and appropriate ways to get paid.



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Fear of Success

A writer friend once told me about a "fear of success" dream she'd had: of finding herself perched on a tall free-standing column, with a space no wider than a medium tree stump to stand on, and nothing to hold on to.

As I think back on it, I'm not sure that wasn't my dream. It's so vivid to me. If it wasn't mine, then I do know I reported one much like it in that same conversation.

I haven't had such a dream in a very long time. But almost all of us do wrestle with some sense of the discomfort of feeling exposed.

Here's an image to counter that fear: this serene and well-balanced heron, photographed by Mark LeGwin at Atlantic, NC. The bird is perfectly comfortable and at home on top of the column--and probably has the genial company of other birds on other pilings nearby. If that heron can do it, so can we.

My Current Test of Courage

I'm out of the office until Nov. 20. (But I will keep blogging.)

Being self-employed, I've always had a hard time taking time away. Just last week, I took a day and a half off, but then it occured to me that I'd taken 2.5 days of vacation since last Christmas. And that's just enough to feel the fatigue.

I've been working for this company of mine for 35 years. Probably if some wiser boss were in charge, I'd have weeks and weeks of vacation each year. Not just hours and hours.

In my work with other writers, I regularly talk about the importance of time away from work. And then ignore my own advice.

So here I go: away from my desk, with no speaking engagement or assignment. It's surprisingly scary. I'll steady myself by keeping on with the daily blogging.

A Home-Made Cruise Ship

Two fine bits of inspiration arrived in my e-mail yesterday: a home-made cruise ship and Goethe's timeless encouragement to "...Begin."

My brother Harry, a devoted boater, sent me the link to the amazing ship and its creator, Francois Zanella, a Frenchman whose day job was as a mineworker.

The subject line of the email was "along comes a hero." This man's devotion to his work of art is indeed heroic: he spent 25,000 hours on this project. This amounts to 8.6 years of 40 hour workweeks with no vacations or holidays. You don't have to build boats to appreciate this kind of dedication.

Please go to see this gorgeous piece of work. It can put a still-unrevised manuscript into perspective.

You'll note that the artist is portrayed in his captain's hat. My hat's off to this captain.


And from Mamie Potter, who shot the close-up a few posts ago of the red shoes, comes this quote from Goethe:

"Whatever you would do, or dream of doing, begin it! Boldness has power, genius, and magic in it. Begin it now."

Begin...and remember that Captain Zanella is now sailing around the world on his ship.