In his wonderful headlining sessions at the MSVMA Summer Conference, ACDA Executive Director Tim Sharp shared many great ideas that will affect my work. One sentence of his that I wrote down has been echoing in my ears since he said it:
On the other side of tension is the emergence of something new.
It is only as we engage with the tension that we can find our way to creating something authentically new.
Tension, though, is a hard feeling to hold close. I know that I tend to back gently away from tension, looking for smoother terrain. But Dr. Sharp’s words ring true: it has only been on the other side of creative, professional, or personal tension that I have achieved anything to be proud of.
So I will carry his words with me, and do my best to make closer friends with the tension in my life, trusting that holding hands with tension will lead me to creative success.
And I offer the words to you, in case you are also seeking to meet tension a little closer in order to create something new.