Do Not Fear....Technology Written by Dionne White
Do you have a Website? Who cringes at the sound of that word? Or maybe you give up before you start and run the opposite way. I was that person.
Which one? Both! Hahaha... It made my head hurt to think about technology! As an artist and not a technically inclined person this word intimidated me terribly! I always needed someone to do it for me then I would beat myself up for asking for help. Telling myself ‘you are such an idiot. You didn’t receive that smart gene.’ That is the farthest thing from the truth! Seriously though, who is with me? Websites, apps, videos, technology is hard to understand but not impossible. If I can do it you can do it. It was a desire of mine to be intelligent and understand technology. Same with reading books. I love to read books now but I wasn’t always like that. I struggled terribly in school with reading quickly and being able to comprehend what I was reading. I tried. I really tried! But the words ‘you are not cut out to be an academic’ haunted me. It even hindered my decision in not to go to college. I really wasn’t sure if I was ‘cut out for it’. Artists can be technology inclined! Let me stop right here and say, I am typing this on my iPad. I own three Apple devices. I have an Instagram, Pinterest account and three facebook pages. As well as a Skype account where I meet with other artists all over the world. Here’s the biggie.... I HAVE A WEBSITE! Yep.... ME! You probably followed the link on facebook to my website to read this. I basically established and designed my website on my own with a little help from my son and an SEO specialist. With a lot of prayerful planning and writing, applying and removing it is what it is today, and it is only getting better. I am continually updating it and changing design.
Just Start Somewhere. Just Write!
I first started out years ago blogging ‘Creating my way through life’ on Blogger then decided to establish a ministry website to accompany my ministry at the time. H.O.P.E. Ministries, which stood for Helping Others Persevere Empowered and I added my art on a separate page for viewing and inspiration.
That site lasted about a year. God was refining and redirecting me once again. My assignment was evolving and it was evolving fast!
I felt like my art was to be in the spotlight.
So I merged my inspirational and creative blogs with the new site. I then established and claimed DionneWhiteArt.com
I gave myself a deadline as to when I wanted to make the site go ‘live’ and I achieved that goal sooner than planned by fifteen days. I set myself a realistic goal and kept that before me. I was determined. Longggg Suffering for Technology sake!
Something I often say or ask people when I am ministering to their heart or speaking to their situation is
‘How bad do you want it?’
Seriously...HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT...then fill in the blank to whatever IT is. I remind myself often when I am trying to accomplish something that God has confirmed in my heart is, ‘Dee remember, how bad do you want it?’ Inevitably IT always propels me forward!
Why am I telling you all this, after all you may be saying, "But Dee you’re an artist. Can artists really do both?!’
I want you to know that It has taken three years to get to this point. From blogging, to Facebook pages, to website and all the merging and learning in between.
But it doesn’t have to take you that long.
I had other circumstances in life working very hard against me.
I tell you all this because, I have a feeling that there are multitudes out there like me or like I was.
Admit it!
I admit I have to work hard at learning, making mistakes and learn again, when it comes to technology. Sure, I get frustrated at times with technology and so does my son get frustrated with me. (Bless his heart!)
I’m almost convinced that is why God allowed technology to be created. To aggravate me so I will learn longgggg suffering. LOL. Not really but you have to admit that is funny. :) Seriously though I believe that you can do this as well. You can create your social media platform pages, you can learn the technology and you can create a website! Are there times I am still challenged? Yes, but isn’t that where the best growth happens? In times of challenge and trial. Holy Spirit is our Fast Pass
God created us and we have an all access pass, a fast pass, like at an amusement park, to the wisdom, insight and brilliance of Him. Holy Spirit is that pass! Even though our thoughts are not His thoughts and His thoughts aren’t naturally our thoughts, that doesn’t mean we can’t know the mind and wisdom of God. We may never know the depths of his heart and mind but He wants us to try, to tap into it if you will. Tap the resource vault of God! It is amazing the transformational things that have happened in my life all because of wisdom He imparted into me. I have to admit, when that wisdom comes it is so fun! It’s like you hit the jackpot! What is holding you back? I believe three things hold us back from attacking the technology mountain.
Mentality, Money and Pride.
•The I can’t Mentality of “I can’t do this or I’m too old to learn” •The lack of willingness to spend Money to get professional help. •Lastly the Pride to receive help from others. If any of these sound like you and you actually desire to conquer the technology mountain, then I challenge you to take time in prayer and ask God to reveal to you the reason you’re not moving forward. Then ask Him to give you the wisdom and reveal the strategy of how to go about achieving your technology desire. I bit the bullet
I had to bite the bullet myself.
(Yes that is a real bullet I'm biting :)
Three years ago I was entering an online art contest for publication. I had to submit my professional photo of my work. I had a great camera but didn’t know much about it. I could point and shoot with it on automatic but that was like getting a luxury car and just sitting in it and admiring it.
I wasn’t using my camera and all it’s abilities that would benefit me. So I signed up for a one day photography class. The class focused on ‘learn how to use your camera’. Perfect. Just what I needed, at this point. I only needed to know the basics so I could shoot my own art and submit a decent pic for publication.
It was a success.
The teacher was great and he even made the class fun. Then asked us to submit our practice pics to him in the week to come. I got a big thumbs up approval. Woo Hoo! So you see, I had to believe I could do it. I had to spend the money to get a little help from a professional and I had to be willing to say “I don’t know it all” and receive help. I hope this has been encouraging to you and challenges you to grow in not just technology but in any area you want to learn and operate well in. I would love to hear your thoughts of your technology roadblocks and any avenues or stories that this might encourage you in. Happy learning! I will see you on the web!
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