Sometimes You Get Married: Routine-breaking Opportunities for A Creative Business

I began my journey to build an art business on the side in 2019, and there are few other projects that have brought me so much pleasure and have taught me so much. One of the earliest things I learned was to be disciplined about practicing drawing and working on the business, which I talked about in the previous blog post. Usually, I would advocate practicing a little every day a few times a week no matter what. Even during a holiday week or vacation, eking out 15 minutes here and there is good for the artist and for the business's momentum. However, my recent marriage changed my opinion somewhat. Similarly to a vacation from regular work, I saw how the unavoidable, extensive interruption to my schedule re-invigorated my art business. Here are a few reasons to embrace a change of pace in your side business.


The interruption will give different inspiration through new places and conversations. In my case, the interruption to my business came with many endings and beginnings, mostly because of the move to a new city. When that happened, I was given a wealth of new surroundings with new acquaintances. I was often overwhelmed and sometimes froze up artistically. But when I started to regain an equilibrium, my eyes and mind began opening up to possibilities. Not surprisingly, I found a few local parks right away where I could draw en plein air. As people from my husband's church began reaching out to me, I fought down my introversion for the sake of friendship and social interaction and reached back. I began to familiarize myself with the town and where I could buy this or that. Living in a smaller town has given me a different perspective about efficiency and productivity since nothing opens until 10am! Early on, I began exploring the local artistic scene and meeting artists, which is a whole new world in itself. Among other things, I started to get ideas of where to draw and how to sell my artwork. Instead of being frustrated by interruptions, try seeing them as opportunities for inspiration.


The interruption to your schedule will refresh your mind about current projects. Often, my mind keeps working on a problem even when my hands are busy elsewhere during the day. This holds true when my hands are occupied for weeks and months on other things. Although my plan had been to finish a book of my plein air drawings before the wedding, time ran out and I had to put it on hold. But that time allowed me to gear up for another wrestling match with Adobe inDesign: technology wipes out my energy and enthusiasm very quickly. Recently, I also opened an Etsy account, which had been on my to-do list three months ago! But it wasn't until now that my new habits and patterns settled down enough to allow me to take another new step. Trying to force either of those projects through at the time would have only sent my stress levels through the roof, and my creativity and husband would have suffered! Extended changes and time away from your projects and business will ultimately benefit them.


An interruption will allow you to rethink your business's priorities, goals, and trajectories. A big life change repositions priorities and makes it easier to see how much time, money, and energy can or should be spent on a side business, and how much needs to go into important relationships and duties. For instance, my husband now takes precedence over my art business, but he supports me continuing in it. It won't go away, only change. When I was planning the wedding, I was also seriously considering writing/illustrating another children's book simultaneously with my book of colored pencil drawings. I had put out a lot of sketches, done a fair amount of research and even begun delineating the page layouts and writing the story. Several months later, I'm putting that project on hold indefinitely until I can reach my more immediate business goals. Because of disruptive life events, you can organically streamline your side business's goals while keeping beloved projects ready for future use. Where your business is going reflects and responds to where your life is going!


I hope that you're encouraged during the unavoidable, longer-than-expected interruptions to your side business by realizing the opportunities that naturally come with them.