© 2008 Brooke Allen
brooke@brookeallen.com www.BrookeAllen.com
Originally published in International Family Magazine
When my grandparents lived in Bogotá, Grandma became bored.
My grandfather told her that she could spend $1,000 (which was a fair bit of money in the Depression) on a hobby, but it would have to pay for itself.
She decided to become a painter.
She would have to sell her paintings to buy more art supplies if she was to continue to paint after the original money ran out.
This meant that she would have to become good enough that people would buy her paintings.
Eventually she made so much money she couldn’t spend it all on art supplies so she started buying real estate.
Some artists become attached to their work and hate to sell it.
Grandma Anne was the opposite. She said,
Everyone will compliment your work, but when they write a check, you know they are sincere.
Brooke Allen 