Success and Failure

Recently my friend and I held an art fundraiser.  We prepared an event involving 6 artists teaching various projects throughout the day with part of the proceeds benefiting a local charity.  Well, that was the plan at least.  The plan didn’t exactly work out that way. 

 

stockmonkeys.com

Our event was almost cancelled about a week before the date.  Very few people had signed up, so it became cost prohibitive to even hold the event.  I felt that the universe was telling us to cancel the fundraiser, but my partner said we had come too far.  She convinced me that we should forge ahead and take a risk.  She was right!  During the last week before the event our attendance doubled.  We shortened the day and reduced the number of artists resulting in a much smaller event.  Ultimately, we were able to cover our expenses and raise $500 for the charity.

Which brings me to the subject of success and failure.  In a way, our event was a failure because it was so much smaller than what we had originally planned (about 80% smaller).  However, we were able to donate money to the charity and all of the attendees had a lovely time.  It was clearly a success when measured by the participant and artist feedback. 

Success is defined as accomplishing a goal, having a “favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.”  What was the goal of our art fundraiser? The goals were to bring a community of women together to explore creativity and to raise money for a local charity.  My friend and I accomplished both.  It would have felt like failure to cancel the event, so I am very glad my friend convinced me to continue with our endeavor.

I find it difficult to feel successful when creating art, so the fundraiser was a good opportunity to have clear goals that resulted in definite accomplishments. We hope to hold 2 more similar events this year, bigger and better each time.  I am confident now that each one will be a success.

- christina