The artist is never on time. My artwork is always in transition in creating a thing of beauty. It’s what I’m known for, it’s my art. When I’m present I’m completely present, and therefore, time doesn’t exist. This doesn’t mean that I’m late. No, not at all. It means I’m an artist.
That’s me contracting away in the background!
The contractor plans for the day of work, well in advance. He creates the critical path for each person, each hour, each day and each week. When he’s on time, and has lined up with his expectations, he’s delighted. When he’s not, he’s stressed, and must work again to plan for success. He guesstimates, estimates and figures on things going one way. He too is a visionary of sorts. More in the realm of practicality of course.
He’s much more rigid, straight forward and driven by meeting his goals and financial expectations. He deals with the never ending changes brought on by life’s circumstances and the artist. The artist sees the design and strives to create it on paper, and in 3D, but it’s the contractor that finally sells the work.
Both must work together in order to deliver on the vision that inspires them, as well as their clientele.
He’s a clever, witty fella that artist. All in love with his dreams and visions. He plays and creates beauty in and with nature. The contractor writes out a clear scope of work and is disciplined with sticking to the script. He settles on what needs to be done and determines that if it’s not clearly stated within the contractual agreement. Then it’s considered a “change order.”
The contractor sees things in black and white, similar to the way a judge might see things. It’s not an emotional thing, it’s merely business. “Time is money” so to speak. It’s about materials and supplies. Labor costs and mobilization. Everything must be documented, clearly spelled out and accounted for.
artist or contractor… sometimes there is not much difference!
I’d like to consider myself a hybrid of both of these characters. I’m truly striving to balance both modalities, so that I can be more successful in life, and all of my businesses. It all comes down to balance and discipline. In a world of shiny objects and plenty of distractions, I’m doing my best to not get caught up with social media, or watching YouTube videos. To not have friendly, yet meaningless, conversation.
I’m actually doing quite well with segmenting my time and prioritizing what needs to get done versus what I feel like doing. All of life is merely a practice, and now that the sun is up and the coffee is made, we must go. The artist, the contractor and the decision maker called self.
Most contractors that are also self employed can feel and relate to my joys and pains. And most of us wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thanks for reading, for caring and for sharing.
Ahmad “Ahmed” Hassan
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