What in Tarnation – Part I
“Brushes & Broken Links: An Artist’s Guide to Surviving the Tech Tangle”
Ugh…all I wanted was to upload a new painting. Somehow, that turned into four password resets, a mystery 404 error, and a deep existential crisis which led to a glass of wine and a snuggle with Waylon my Sheltie. There I sat sipping and wondering whether I’m an artist or a part-time IT help desk.
Oh dear lord…have you ever screamed into the void because your Instagram link won’t connect to your Facebook Artist page? Well, you’re not alone. In fact, welcome to the club! Yep! I’m in three password resets and it still won’t sync up.
Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete they said…I screamed, “What rubbish! Absolute RUBBISH!”
The truth is, I have been wrestling with tech for decades. It never gets easier. It’s another App, another program, another Social Media site, followed by another headache. I do it because art deserves to be shared. While reviewing what’s needed for my Branding Kit, I almost clicked on something else…and on it goes. So how can we all mange this fiasco? Well I’m going to tell you a story.
One weekend while visiting my brother I noticed he had a L-O-N-G punch list stuck to the front of his refrigerator. He was remodeling an old house and he had listed each room and what needed to be done. Ugh! Just looking at the list was overwhelming, but he said every Saturday morning he would pick a couple of things, do them, and cross them off the list.
The bottom line is, when something is overwhelming, we must break it down into smaller pieces and start checking them off our list. Make a list and eat the frog! (The frog is the one thing you keep putting off, so make like Nike and just do it already.)
The fact is we don’t wrestle with tech because we love it — we do it because our art is meant to be shared. For me each click, update, and tutorial is one more step toward sharing the magical moments of time captured in brushstrokes.
Aces In The Hole:
Use a password manager, even if it’s just in Excel (life-changing)
Let go of perfection — done is better than perfect
Set time limits on tech struggles, then walk away
Outsource where possible (even if it’s just asking a friend or teen for help)
“Yes, the apps will keep changing. The links will keep breaking. But the sun will rise again tomorrow and life will be full of promise. And as artists, we were never meant to follow a perfect system. We were meant to create through the mess and leave beauty in our wake.”
Until next time remember to Create a List & Release.
Much love,
Tamara
