You may have heard of musician/singer/writer Amanda Palmer. She recently published a book called “The Art of Asking.” I haven’t read it yet, but I would like to. The subtitle on the book cover reads “Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help.” Besides her creations, she is famous for being a queen of crowdfunding. It was how she was able to release her own music after leaving her record company. She did a Ted Talk in which she described her time as a street performer and made her living off people’s willingness to give her money. She talked about being criticized and harassed for not having a “real job” and for begging on the street. But she wasn’t just sitting there with a cup. She would stand frozen as a beautiful statue that would come to life and interact with whomever gave a dollar or two. It was those brief moments of connection that she was providing in return for whatever people were willing to pay for them. No matter what the critics thought, to those customers, what she was providing was worth paying for. The image of her and her patron in this bubble of satisfaction surrounded by negativity and criticism really stuck with me. Especially as I started exploring the possibility of reaching out to find my own patrons.
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