Fear makes us want to horde and consume. It bloats us.
We are adverse to risk, so our brains fire up when we challenge our assumptions. This morning I was updating my website and I was afraid reducing the number of images in my folio from 20 to 10 would cut my audience in half. Resulting in less clients and less money.
My response to the fear of lack was to try and to connect with everyone instead of a particular someone. By having 20 images that are diverse, I can appeal to a larger market.
But reduction actually does the opposite. It forces us to hold on to only what is truly precious to us increasing the chance that we will connect with someone else who finds it precious too.
This increases the potential for connection by:
- Setting a higher standard of quality
- Removing the lower standard of quality
- Increasing alignment with your values
- Increasing alignment with potential client values
I’m willing to bet that my next mural projects for this year will be much more aligned with the kind of art I like to make.
Because reduction is a form of focus.