A year ago Tina and I started the process of creating a non-profit in support of vocal arts and artists in Minnesota.
In the past year, here are some of the highlights:
- filed and received our non-profit approval from the IRS
- produced 6 Artist Spotlights as part of the Launch Series
- created “Only One” (which was viewed 1,200 times!)
- put $3,000 in the pockets of local artists (and by mid-May, we will increase that to $7,500)
- created our first public grant
I’m super proud of what we have accomplished so far. That’s not easy for me to say or recognize. It has always been hard for me to acknowledge wins because, in singing, my focus is always on improving, which means my attention is constantly scanning for “what is wrong” and “what needs to be fixed.” That desire for perfection bled into all the areas of my life resulting in a pretty strong negativity bias. I joke with my husband that I’m a fault-seeking missile. It’s not a trait I particularly like about myself. There’s always an added level of anxiety when he is doing household projects because my eyes zero in on the imperfections immediately.
One good thing about quarantine is that I have gotten to know myself better (and slowly am starting to accept my imperfections, figurative warts and all). I have learned that I don’t need to reinforce the fault-finding behavior. I know that I will easily and automatically find faults with myself and the spacing of the pictures on the wall, so I need to consciously ask myself “what went well” and “what do I like.” I think Luke would agree that I’m getting better at saying the good things before the things I’d like to change. I’m also finding myself letting things go more often. So what if the pictures aren’t perfectly spaced? Instead I’m grateful we finally got them on the wall!
Starting OOPS has been stressful and anxiety-inducing. It has forced me to grow, learn new things, and launched me out of my comfort zone. I remind myself daily that I am learning as I go. Mistakes are going to happen, but the fear of making them is not going to hold me back from trying to do something. That attitude combined with the amazing team we have assembled for OOPS will make us unstoppable!