- I remember, in the winter of the year 2013, in the city of Taipei, I was trying to sell a bicycle. -
-- I got some interest from a fellow exchange-student, a Japanese male, young. He came over to my dorm, on my invitation, viewed - my bicycle, and, coming up to my room for a chat, told me he wasn't buying my bicycle after all. -
-- At that time, I didn't ask him for his reason for turning down my sales-offer - I was too upset by this rejection, maybe - and after chatting - a little more, he said he was going back to his dorm. -
-- I was crest-fallen but I said to him, "I'll accompany you back to your dorm, then." -
-- And I was on my bike, while he walked - or, I let him take my bike, while I walked, I don't remember - either way, we matched our - respective paces, and got to his dorm - where and when he let me know he was buying my bicycle. -
-- I tried to get him to buy it at the price I had set earlier, but he said many times he only had so-and-so amount of money. -
-- "Ok, I'll sell it to you," I said, thinking that even if he was feigning insufficient money to match my price, he seemed to be - putting up a consistent enough pretence. -
-- So, what does this mean to me today, nearly six years later? -
-- First, six years on, I realised that I got the sale only after I had given up on it. So I want to challenge myself, to question myself, - in my sales today, "If I knew that I wouldn't make any money from these interactions, what would I do with these people?" -
-- Six years ago, thinking that I wouldn't make any money anyway, I offered to accompany that exchange-student back to his dorm. - On a cold night. It seems to me, in hind-sight, that I valued my friendship with him, more than any potential sales he represented. -
-- So, today, I'm selling my original abstract visual artwork. If I assume that I'm not going to make any money from these pictures, - what would I do? -
-- I value responses from my audience. If those who view my works have- if they experience my works resonating with them, - if they have an interpretation of my works, I want to hear about it. I love hearing these kinds of things: how my works come alive - in their eyes, or in their lives. -
-- So I extend this invitation now to the reader - my works are at - - https://tonychen.bigcartel.com - , and also I blog about my works - at https://alls-futility.tumblr.com , so go ahead, check them out, if you want - and tell me if it means something to you. -
-- That's my first take-away from my bicycle-sales six years ago. To find a more meaningful aspect to my sales than money. -
-- I have no second take-away; I have come to the limit of the pocket of time that I've set aside for this little piece of writing. -
-- Thank you.