The CREATE Process Risky Business: Living Life As a Daring Adventure

Note: This is the second part of a series on the CREATE process: Curiosity, Risk-Taking, Engagement, Adaptability, Trust, and Energy, six steps that help bring more awareness to our creativity.Curiosity is the pinnacle of our journey into strengthening the creativity muscle, but next comes Risk-Taking and Engagement. The argument can be made that entrepreneurship, itself, is risky, but so too is any career. Ask anyone who has survived a corporate layoff or two, and they will likely remind you that life holds no guarantees. Helen Keller pierces the bubble of “safety” in the most beautiful way: “Security is mostly superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men, as a whole, experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”The Risk of ArtWhen it comes to the creative process, art also is a risk. Whether you are working at a new venue, with a new team, or are creating a new design element, any time you do something new, it’s a risk. Yet, we do this for each and every client. Given the variables we encounter, risk is inherent in any live event. As professionals, it is our job to take as much of that risk out of the equation as possible—but as artists, we should always take risks. We rehearse the wedding ceremony. We spend hours in creating and reviewing the master timeline, involving each of the various vendors and their teams to ensure that the plan is solid and clear and also flexible enough to be adapted if and when needed. We continue to strengthen our skill set, to minimize the risk for our clients and their events.Risks can be reduced. Studio time or even styled shoots provide a great outlet. Take a class on a new technique. Try something new. Push yourself to learn new things. When it works, feature the outcome in your social media or blog, or pitch it to a client who might incorporate it into his or her event. When it doesn’t work out as you had envisioned, go back to the drawing board and try it again—or take that experience, and apply it in a new way. Pablo Picasso said, “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” If he relied on this “trial and error” approach, I’m confident it will work for us.The Risk of Being HumanRisks are a very personal, very subjective thing. In CREATE, part one, we discussed looking at our lives—and our to do lists—with a fresh set of eyes, to truly evaluate what we spend our time and energy doing. One key aspect of our ability to excel in our line of work is problem solving to save the day and make our clients’ (and their events) sparkle. But what happens when our identity becomes wrapped up in that ability, in getting the next five-star review, or in the “hero (or martyr) complex” that results from us saving the day, usually at the cost of our own sleep, nutrition, or personal time? In many ways, we put ourselves at risk, all for the good of performing our jobs well. Being willing to take that emotional risk, to truly become self-aware of who we are, what we do, and why we do it, allows us to grow. When we’re able to anchor into who we are at the core, to find value in the work we do—for the sake of the work and not the accolades—this is when we can tap into a deeper sense of purpose and connection. And that’s where creativity runs freely. “Our lives improve only when we take chances—and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves,” said American painter Walter Anderson.Engagement—opening up to the world around usThis level of risk, of being human, and embarking on a journey of self-discovery, brings us directly into the next step in our CREATE process: engagement. And though we are in the wedding industry, this level has nothing to do with sparkly rings or #ISaidYes Instagram posts. This is where we begin to “show up” in our own lives. What does this have to do with creativity? Glad you asked.When we are curious and willing to take risks, we have no choice but to engage. We engage our minds, emotions, problem-solving skills, creativity, and likely the same from our inner circle. Our vulnerability is where the magic starts. Leo Buscaglia, also known as “Dr. Love,” author and motivational speaker, sums it up: “The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live.”To grow, both in our careers and within ourselves, we must take risks and engage with our world, the beauty we see, the people we encounter. Not sure where to start? Look no further than Eleanor Roosevelt for direction: “Do one thing every day that scares you.” WPM__Tonia Adleta, PWP™, Aribella Events, www.AribellaEvents.com, www.toniaadleta.com, Philadelphia