The Pivot

By Gaurvi Madhav Joshi

Hannah Keally, a nineteen year old art student from Boston, believed in one thing: "Creativity is in just anything". You could call it her mantra for life. It all started when Hannah was in fifth grade. She began making bracelets out of candy, the mints you get cheaper at convenience stores. "Well, I will create!", Hannah beamed. Ever since, you could find her huddled at her desk at school, with an unorthodox bunch of materials. Clay, wire, leaves, pebbles, anything.

She made art out of a rock of enamel with things stuck onto it. It sure looked pretty. Her art teacher, Mrs Tinns, looked at her work admiringly and said "Hannah, you should start thinking about selling your art, my dear."

Hannah quickly set her plans into motion. She never had any proper money of her own, because her parents were long gone, and she and her brother Julian were raised by their grandmother. Her boyfriend, Matt, was extremely supportive, and paid for everything on dates, but Hannah longed for proper money of her own so they could go on proper dates. And she could go to college. Her heart was set upon Boston College for its Art program, and she yearned for the time she could be a full-time student.

Anyway, Hannah sought Matt's help and they set up a booth at a nearby market. At first, people were intrigued and came to the booth, but sadly, it turned out to be plain “interest”. When that faded and they saw other "useful" stuff, they went that way. The booth stood deserted. On some good days, there were a couple of buyers and all Hannah could make was a dollar. 

Gradually, the footfall whittled down to the weakest it had ever been. Hannah's heart sank. Never in her life had she felt so dejected, so frustrated, and so let down. Not that life had been a fun ride always, they had seen hard days, but in the hopeful eyes of a nineteen year old, this was purely cruel. "Why is it always like this?", she sobbed all the way home from the booth.

Days flew by. Hannah gave up hope that her art would sell. One day, as she got home, she saw Julian install some web-application on their home desktop. "Hey Ju, what's that one?" Hannah was curious. "Well, Sis, that's Canva. Guess what, I got Pro-Create for cheap!" Now, Hannah was amazed. "Ju, could you tell me some more?" She loved techie things, thanks to Julian getting her super involved in his projects. Julian sat her down at the table and told her how the new, marvelous thing on the block, AI or Artificial Intelligence, was changing the world. "Now Hannie, you could just type in 'cat' and see hundreds of thousands of cat versions here! Just cool, isn't it!" Julian gushed.

Hannah was more than just taken with it. She wanted to use it and see how it all worked. When everyone went to bed, she would come down to the desktop and play around with the web-application. After a month of using it, she felt restless. Like something was missing. Something that she could not put her finger to. Anyway, it was time to go to art school. On the bus ride to school, her words came back to her. Words that she had forgotten all this while. Her mantra for life. "Creativity is in just anything". And everything clicked into place.  

That was what she'd been missing all this while. Truly creating on the computer. She burst up the steps and into Mrs Tinns' office. "Yes, my dear?" asked Mrs Tinns. The words poured out of Hannah's mouth. How the booth had been a failure, how she was convinced she could do nothing with her art, and then discovering Canva. And her mantra. And the way things clicked into place when she remembered it. Mrs Tinns smiled her wise, motherly smile, and said "Honey, that's a pivot. Something has shifted inside of you and the old Hannah is back. I see you making good use of what tools you've been handed." She patted Hannah's hand and left.

Hannah couldn't wait to go home that day. When she finally did, she got to the desktop, remembered her mantra, and started creating digital art. "Well, I will create!" she beamed again.

 A month later, Matt and Julian helped her set up her own e-commerce site where she could sell her pieces by managing inventory and accepting sales. The next day, as she was cooking, she heard a "ping". It was her first sale! Fifty dollars straight to her account! Hannah felt goosebumps all over. Was this for real? Yes, it was!! 

The sales continued. One Sunday, she went out on a proper date with Matt. Guess where they went? Boston College! As they sat hand in hand, admiring the beauty and grandeur of the buildings, she leaned on Matt's shoulder. "I never apologized about the booth fiasco, Matt." "Does it matter anymore, Hannie? You've outgrown the booth. You've shown the world what you are capable of. You are a strong woman, my Hannie. You've pivoted". Hannah could only look at him, tears rolling down her face.

By Gaurvi Madhav Joshi