I Walk the Line

“Papa bought this house when I was four years old. I’m sure that crack was there when we moved in. I’ve never even thought about it before because its been that way since I can remember.” . . . Forty years of family life in a single place - home. Birthday gatherings, Christmas mornings, BBQ’s, high school proms, Sunday suppers, running through the garden, building forts, sobs of sadness, screams of laughter. Into this hallowed space enters a buyer.

“Does this crack indicate structural issues? Why are all the window sills a different type of marble? We can always just tear it out and open this up. This will need to be dealt with.” The potential new owners of the home, for this brief and unique moment, the time between first seeing their new home and the moment they move in to begin building a life there, see 2 worlds – the one that has been and the one that will be. “We instantly saw entertaining guests well into the evening in a setting by which all who enter will undoubtedly be enchanted . . . the sweet home and all the land on which it sits feels hidden away from all the rest of the world. . . magical . . . like a retreat . . . just waiting for us.”

As an agent, I walk a fine line; on one side: working to stay present to the world of the Seller – attached yet needing to move on – on the other side: the world of the Buyer – desirous to own a new home yet cautious lest they take on more than can be comfortably handled. Buying and selling a home is an enormous financial transaction, one that takes skill, knowledge and great attention to detail. It is also a powerful emotional transition.

As artists our personal space is tremendously important. For performers home provides sanctuary from the public nature of our lives. For painters it may be the inspiration that fills canvases. For a musician the structure may be the sound proofing necessary to record our latest opus. For the writer it may provide a room of one’s own to ponder our thoughts. For a filmmaker it may contain the dark corner to view our work.

Home means something different to each individual or couple with whom I work and there are always at least two sides to every story, two sides of the line. One is letting go; the other is taking hold, stepping into the future. I am grateful to be walking that line between past and future. Many thanks to those of you who have invited me into your process. And for those of you who are considering making a transition I would be honored to walk the line with you.

“I think the most significant work we ever do,
in the whole world, in our whole life,
is done within the four walls of our own home.”
Stephen R. Covey

Carpe diem baby!!!

Richard Florida, in his book, “Rise of the Creative Class” identifies creativity as the distinguishing marker for the next wave of leaders and producers in our society.

Society is changing & the driving force of this change is the rise of human creativity as the key factor in our economy and society. The creative individual is no longer viewed as an iconoclast. I have great news for you. We, as creatively minded people, are the new mainstream. Creativity is becoming highly valued. Systems are evolving to encourage and harness new ideas, new technologies, new industries, new wealth. All other economic things flow from creativity. Creativity is essential to the way we live and work today. Human creativity is multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. It involves distinct kinds of thinking & habits that must be cultivated both in the individual and the surrounding society. Creatively minded people are indeed the chief currency of the emerging economic age. And our economic function is to create new ideas, new technology and/or new creative content. We engage in complex problem solving. We can never be forced to work but are never truly not at work.

Paul Romer claims the “the most important ideas of all are ‘meta ideas’ – ideas that support the production and transmission of other ideas”. Thriving Artist Alliance is a meta idea! We are committed to supporting the creative.

Einstein said, “Every act of creation is at first an act of destruction.” Thriving Artist Alliance is engaging in what economist Joseph Schumpeter called, “the perennial gale of creative destruction”. What TAA is destroying is the Starving Artist Archetype - an outdated archetype that must be laid to rest. If what Richard Florida is saying in his book is true, then our time, the time for artists and creatives has finally come. Couple this with our current real estate market and you’ve got an unprecedented moment in history that we may truly never see again. Carpe diem baby!!!