There’s always a line – and you choose if it intimidates you or not.
There are many lines in life for us to find, straddle, and cross.
Most are utterly intangible. They’re lines that represent crossing from one idea to another. Some are deeply negative – like making polarizing statements, disenfranchising people, and otherwise causing hurt and/or harm by crossing the line.
But others are potentially positive. But they’ll represent some kind of change that others will perceive as negative.
That’s part of human nature. It’s impossible to do something new or make a significant change without someone feeling hurt. But you can’t control how someone else feels – because it’s on them.
Further, this is not intentional hurt. You make a change, or do a new thing, and that person perceives it as a negative. This might include perceiving that you’re leaving them behind, putting them in a secondary position, or otherwise shifting your focus and attention away from them.
The thing is, to create something – anything – that you proceed to share with the world, you’re finding, straddling, and crossing a line to make it happen.
This line is invisible – and exists between what is and what might be. Once you identify it, you can choose to act or not to straddle it or cross it. Each choice will impact your life – which in turn will impact others.
Whatever it is you might be creating – art, a business, products, or services – once you decide to share it with the world, the line becomes a consideration.
How do finding, straddling, and crossing the line compare to one another?
Finding the line
How do you go about finding the line?
As a creative, this tends to be the line between being an amateur/hobbyist or a professional.
How do these differ? When you create something as a hobby, if you sell it or share it, profit seldom comes into consideration. Whether it’s a physical thing or a service, as a hobbyist/amateur you’re doing it mostly for you and your edification. If you share it – and sell it – that’s secondary.
But once you turn pro, now you need to consider profit. How does what you offer change?
This can get complicated because crossing that line can additionally bring up accusations of arrogance, self-righteousness, and other ugly notions.
I used to do a lot of writing for free. I wrote press releases for a local chamber of commerce, magazine articles and web content for exposure but no pay, and blogged with zero expectation of pay at the start. Ergo, I got no pay for my creativity.
But then I turned pro. Sorry, not sorry – I get paid for what I do and I won’t write for free. This “crossed the line” in a couple of instances, and some entities stopped coming to me for my work.
But it also opened new doors when I chose to cross that line. However, it wasn’t an immediate thing after I found the line.
Finding it comes first. And while some people race across the line, stride across, or leap across – some straddle the line to start.
Straddling it
You’ve reached the line. Cross it? Don’t cross it? Or straddle it and work from there?
What’s that mean? It means you still do things and create as you did. However, you also begin to work for money and/or some exchange that is professional versus a hobbyist.
I began to self-publish around 2013. But I did so in fits and starts, while still blogging and doing other writing for free. This was my modus operandi for a few years – until 2018 or so when I began to write more professionally.
That’s when I started to blog on Medium for some revenue. Soon after that, I began to self-publish with greater frequency. I had turned pro (a great explanation of the concept of “turning pro” as a writer is offered in Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. I highly recommend this book).
Rather than stride, run, or leap across the line – I straddled it for a time. That allowed me to get my bearings and understand what crossing it would entail.
One cautionary warning here. For some people, straddling the line is as far as they’ll go. Crossing the line is not without risk and can be super scary. Straddling the line keeps one foot planted where you know and presently are – and the other on uncertain ground.
Additionally, straddling the line can get treated much like the too-soft “try” that Yoda rails against in my favorite quote,
“Try not. Do, or do not – there is no try.”
Straddling the line, for some, is trying – but with limited intent. It’s the “ok, why not?” rather than the “ok, let’s do this” notion.
That’s not always the case, of course. But it’s important to be wary of this.
What does crossing the line lead to?
Uncharted territory.
Sure, lots of others have crossed the line between hobbyist and professional. While their journey across the line might be similar to yours – it’s not and can’t be the same.
That doesn’t mean you can’t learn from another’s experience. But it’s still unchartered, unfamiliar territory for you.
This will involve stepping out of your comfort zone. It’s risky because it’s full of unknowns. Yes, you might crash and burn. Stumble over that line and completely trip yourself up.
– OR –
You might take off like a jet in flight and find yourself somewhere amazing that you have always desired to be.
Is it worth it? That depends on you. What do you desire to make of your life? Has the line been a goal you’ve desired to cross?
That’s the key to any line you find in your life. The line between friend and lover, the line between fear and excitement, the line between formal schooling and adult life, and so on. Every line you cross – tangible or intangible – is not without potential for good, bad, or nothing at all.
But that’s life. Our growth and change depend on finding and crossing lines from one point to another. It’s scary, sure – but if you desire to take control and drive your life where you most desire it to go – it’s an unavoidable part of the process.
The future is always in motion. Thus, there are always lines to find, straddle, and or cross – or not. Whatever choices you make – the potential and possibilities are on one side of the line. Find it, straddle it, cross it? You make the call.
Know that you’re worthy and deserving of whatever lies on the other side of the line in that uncharted territory.
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