Hello World Changer!
I’m slowly rolling through arrivals at Hartsfield International in Atlanta, the busiest airport in the country. I’m trying to keep an eye on my texts and find Dimitra and Jake in the sea of people and luggage. I see Jake’s hand pop up and wave, while Dimitra is actively looking around for me.
I pull up to where they’re standing. Hugs, luggage in the trunk, and off we go.
“So how was Bali? Magical?” I’m excited to hear all about their incredible honeymoon.
The First Signs
“It was beautiful and amazing, and the food was incredible. We loved it, but Jake got Bali Belly,” Dimitra explains.
“What’s Bali Belly?” I look in the rear view mirror and see Jake sprawled out in the back looking pale.
“You might have to pull over to a gas station. I’ll try to give you some warning, but sometimes it comes on fast… Hopefully I’ll be okay. I took some Imodium,” Jake says cautiously.
“Oh! I see. That doesn’t sound good. But other than the toilet drama, sounds like it was great.”
“Yeah, I got the Bali Belly at the end, so it hasn't been too awful.”
Dimitra tells me about all of their adventures and everything they ate, their tree house resort with the private pool, the ATV adventure, the crazy coffee made from some tree cat animal that poops out the beans.
Then she says, “It was really weird though. Everyone was wearing face masks and talking about some terrible virus and how so many people were sick. It was getting worse as the days passed.”
The Shift Begins
A couple of weeks later, we heard the announcements about the Coronavirus and saw the waves of panic striking social media. We heard reports of a worldwide pandemic, death tolls rising, morgues overrun.
I watched a video of India being shut down and people trapped in their apartments. Students from all over the world were sharing various terrifying things their governments were reporting. Airports were being closed and entire cities locked down.
During our April open window to join the online Mastery Program, we had only 30 people sign up as opposed to 300.
We didn't have high-speed internet, so we were renting a small office in downtown Athens to run our media through and film live workshops. But the government shut down Athens, and no one was allowed to go to work and be in the office buildings. We had to send one person to sneak in and out just to upload our media.
A Season of Uncertainty
As the months passed, things didn't change much, and it became clear that we had to cancel the in-person Mastery Program we had planned for September. We returned the tuition to the people who were signed up and encouraged them to take it online. Our July 1st registrations exploded to over 500 artists taking advantage of the lockdown and finally exploring art as an outlet.
We also had to cancel all of the art retreats that were planned for that summer. Life felt uncertain, and it was difficult to plan for the future. It was difficult to know what was true and what was untrue. We spent the summer preparing and building out our school space in the event that things changed and we could have in-person classes.
Whatever the future held, it was clear that this was bigger than some weird sickness going around Bali. It was even bigger than a worldwide pandemic. Something deeper was going on, and we were just starting to feel it.
A Change I Didn't Expect
As the reality settled in of not teaching the Mastery Program in person for the first time in seven years, I started to feel a shift within myself too. It felt like all the spaces inside me, like rooms, began to be redecorated and repurposed, and I felt the expanse of more open space.
The September start date for students to come to Georgia passed, and no one came. More and more online students poured into our curriculum and database. More and more countries were joining the program.
That’s when I knew that Covid had changed my life forever.
I was momentarily sad to miss the new students, but sadness was replaced by a newfound freedom. My schedule was my own. My head and heart space wasn't filled with individual students and what they were struggling with and how I could help them overcome their obstacles.
My thoughts began to ignite with ideas about our business and how we could reach more artists. I became more inspired than ever with new painting ideas and had a multitude of studios to create in.
I realized that this shift was necessary. I was no longer spent on one-to-one encounters and was able to elevate my abilities to higher-leverage things that ultimately would affect more people.
A New Art Movement
2020 became a year of significant transition. I no longer thought of the school as a little building in the middle of a cotton field that helped a handful of artists reach their potential each year. I started to see and believe that the vision God gave me at 19 years old was actually coming to fruition.
I wasn't crazy or overly romantic. I didn't just imagine a lofty destiny, but it was all real. There was a new art movement forming—not only in our school community, but into the greater art world.
Through Covid lockdowns, when the people were most oppressed, hearts were awakening. The smoldering coals of our dreams began to burn red with passion and possibility. Hope returned, and artists from all over the world turned their attention to what they cherished the most. They turned their anxiety, boredom, and stagnation into visions for paintings.
2020 was the year of the artist—the moment the tiny inklings of the art movement became a global force.
I saw it happening. I felt it whirling like a tornado throughout the earth. Out of the plague of death, fear, and deception sprung new life and hope in the form of creation.
Have you ever experienced a moment that looked like loss but turned into something greater?
