Being Bold When Making Changes: Learning to Be Comfortable Between the Trapezes

Living room picture window frame which is being replaced by a large sliding glass door.

Change is rarely a comfortable thing for we humans, even when it’s “good” change.   We tend to be so “change adverse” that we’d rather stay stuck in a less-than-ideal-situation than risk making a change that would get us to a better place.  

Figuring out ways to be comfortable between the trapezes – that “in between space” we inhabit once we’ve made the commitment to change and before we reach the “good” destination place – is an artful learned practice, one that if we can master it, helps us become more willing to embrace and be more open to initiating further changes we recognize we need to make, to get us closer to whatever it is we need to be doing to become more joyful in our lives.

One way I deal with my own change aversion is to be bold and “go for it”.  Once I’ve figured out the changes that need to be made and have a vision for the end result and at least somewhat of a plan for how to achieve it, I’ve found that the best way to initiate the change is to start taking action, dive in and get going.  Once things get rolling, it becomes more fun and exciting, letting the next steps unfold in the moment and seeing results of action along the way.

Another thing that helps is to have a partner that I fully trust who readily embraces change and is a creative visionary.  In those moments when I’m not too sure about taking the leap, she’s there to gently nudge (or in some cases drag) me over the edge.

One of the many piles of old windows on their way out.

Big Bold Changes – New Blog, New Website, New Windows and Doors

Over the past several weeks I’ve made some major changes to support the development of my own art career, as well as the co-development of mine and my partner’s “Hanna-Hooly” art exhibition space in our home studio environment.  Because we both have our studios at home and use this space twice a year for open studio tours, we have been working to “fluff up” our home environment and make several needed upgrades.

This week we are having 16 windows replaced and 2 new doors added to the home – a major home improvement project which, apparently, we were both in a bit of denial about the significance of prior to starting it.  Now, 4 days into the remodel, we are ready to have our house back!  It’s been a bit of a bumpy week, including a night with no heat, and feeling like we’re living in a bomb shelter with the big gaping holes all over the place once the windows were removed, but I know it’s going to be beautiful once it’s done and I keep focusing on that.

This is normally my office space but right now has one big gaping hole on the north wall.

The other big changes I’ve made are that I have a new wonderful integrated website and blog now (this is my first post on my new blog!), thanks to Pat Velte of WhiteWing design.

My Upgraded “2.0” Version of My Web Presence

I had my original website up for over 2 years now and my blog for 1.5 years.  In that time, I’ve learned a lot about social media and gotten clearer about my goals for my own web presence.  My old website was a nice self-hosted custom design (thank you Bill!), but I wasn’t able to easily update it or make changes to it.

My old blog was built on WordPress and hosted by WordPress.com.  Wordpress is so wonderfully intuitive that I’ve been easily able to learn how to use the tools to write and publish my own posts and build out my site layout.  Still, there were some functionality not available to me in my WordPress.com blog and I didn’t like having my website and blog on different platforms and hosting providers.

Ultimately, I developed a list of criteria for my newly designed website and blog:

1. Integrate my website and blog into one platform on a self-hosted site – allows me to have a common look and feel for my website and blog, a common web address for both under my aynhanna.com domain name, and full control of my site.

2. I must be able to change content and add images easily and directly all by myself – using a WordPress theme made good sense because I am already familiar with the admin dashboard since I have been using wordpress for my old blog, and I can easily make content changes and upload new images as needed.

3. I want a clean site layout and design, professionally designed by a web designer who has experience creating websites for artists – There are times when it makes sense to do it yourself, and other times when it’s a better idea to pay a professional.  I was ready to work with a pro on this design, rather than bumble through trying to do it on my own and I’m really glad I made this decision.  I’m really happy with my new site design, layout, and functionality.  Working with Pat from WhiteWing design has been a wonderful collaborative process.

The new window installed today in my office space.

Although the past few weeks have been quite nutty and a bit stressful at times with all the changes going on, the payoff is worth it.  I’ve found that the more I forge ahead boldly into that “in between” space, the easier it becomes to keep doing this when each new “change event” presents itself.  While there’s always some natural hesitation at first, the results that are waiting once I reach that next trapeze are always worth it.  Moving forward along every significant path involves this continuous cycle of acclimation to satisfaction, satisfaction interruption/change initiation and searching, then achievement of new levels of satisfaction.   And achieving the next “IT” that I envision is always what keeps me going.

What keeps you going?