This past weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to the Metro New York YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base on Long Island. I have several friends who currently work there and I had a great time catching up with them.

The funny thing about the whole situation was the perspective switch that we went through. It’s not as if we were completely different people who had to re-work our relationship, but I could tell there was a subtle dynamic shift.

For several months now I have been straining to make the transition from a “student of art” to “professional artist”. That may seem simple, but the switch is impossible for about 90% of my peers (how many BFA’s work at Starbucks?). After living through the last year, I can very easily see why. I found it’s not so much the hectic times that kill the dreams, it’s the dead zones in between that stymie us the most. It’s a hard road to travel but I think I’m beginning to turn the corner.

I’ve loved the few weeks I’ve been working with PUSH. If there’s one thing I have been challenged by more than anything else, it’s the lifestyle choices they make. I have learned so much by just watching these people work. I came out of school with a great many ideas about how the professional artist works – great ideas with no connection to daily activities. It was a painful and slow process learning about that gap.

Now I get to see the actions up close. For example: grant-writing was always a concept that made sense to me, but was out of reach in practical sense. I had no idea what process was used to get from zero to step one. Today, I not only got to sit in on a first contact meeting, but I am also getting advice and supervision as I write the grant in question.

There are so many things constantly ‘popping’. Mostly, they’re little things like a reaction or word choice, but they make all the difference. I can see so much of what I needed to learn occurring right in front of me every day. It’s these actions that separates the “student” from the “professional”. In short, a lifestyle of choices.

The challenge before me is to absorb this lifestyle. I believe this is already happening – in large part because I made a conscious choice to leave what I had and work with PUSH. I think this is what made my old friendships seem a little different. It’s still me that people see, but choices have been made, attitudes have changed, and the person has grown. New eyes taking a look at old friendships and vice versa.