This e-mail arrived yesterday from the sculptor, painter and jeweler Sydney Cash, of Marlboro, N.Y. It landed in the in-box like an exquisitely wrapped holiday gift, so timely and inspiring. Market Insider is passing it along to you, with Sydney's permission. Click here to view Sydney's artwork. Thank you, Sydney!
"I'd like to share a recent experience of mine about selling, and please bear with my Buddhist and Diamond Approach vocabulary."
"Last month I was exhibiting my jewelry at the Washington, D.C., craft show. I, along with all the exhibitors, was nervous about the economy and its effect on sales."
"Happily for me, Friday started of briskly. But I noticed my hand shaking while writing up the first two orders and hoping I could write them fast enough, before the person changed their mind. Several early quick sales and a lot of interest took my mind off the bigger economic world. I relaxed and was OK that day."
"Saturday was dead all morning, and then I couldn't stop my mind from dwelling in fear and the economic turmoil. And even when there was someone interested in my jewelry, I had a hard time relaxing and closing/making the sale. It was a very bad day for sales and most of it had to do with the anxious vibe I was giving off. I could see it and feel it, but I could not let it go. Fear had a stranglehold on me that day."
"That night, I did some serious personal inquiry about what was underneath my fear of poor sales. And mostly I remembered how my mother had been so mean to my father during periods of economic recession when he didn't earn "enough" money in his little grocery store."
"On Sunday mroning I had a long meditation; I felt compassion for the economy's effect on people's lives. My heart opened to all the pain I and everyone else was feeling. And after a while there was this great sense of love for everyone, including myself. When I went to the show, I was unexpectedly an hour early, so I did walking meditation in the sunshine for 45 minutes. Then I went in."
"That day I enjoyed everyone: my fellow craftspeople and the buying and not-buying public. I found myself compassionate, playful, charming and being present with everybody. There was no fear."
"I sold a great deal of jewelry, without even working at it. It felt like I was in a state of grace."
"So enjoy your holiday season!"
Sincerely, Sydney
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