Are you a risk taker? Do you think you have a stronger appetite for risk relative to your friends and family? We asked some folks from the community about their approaches to risk and have shared their thoughts below.

Mary Judge | Artist

Hind sight has taught me that I had good instincts in my earlier years but did not act on them: I learned later on, that I was “risk adverse”. I wish I had listened to my inner voices when I was younger in that regard and taken more risks. The thing is, if you make a “mistake” when you are young, chances are you can recover and recover. If you live a life of avoiding risk, you might end up marooned in a place where you regret paths not taken. The biggest risks I did take in life, were the ones that have served me best to have chosen and moved me onto a saner and more fulfilling path. There is also an aspect of risk when you are older; there is more fear in risk. I have a friend, in her late 70s who has no permanent source of income besides what sales she personally can make of her work. She moves from place to place living in fact, a truly fulfilling life but absolutely on the edge. Read more>>

Peter Healy | Multidisciplinary Artist/ Predominantly Abstract Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture

As an artist I believe risk is vitally important. It’s one of the key factors in the development of an artist. As a father and in my personal life, I find risk to be frightening. My mistakes have the potential to have consequences way beyond myself. Which brings it back to taking chances in my art. I look at it as an opportunity to be bigger than myself and to take chances that will make me grow and improve as an artist. Risk and change are about getting uncomfortable, but it’s one of the only ways I can evolve in real time. It can be scary, but unlike in other aspects of life, with art I get to choose what changes/risks I’ll take. When it works there is no better feeling , when it doesn’t work it maybe it will sting for a moment, but I will have certainly learned more than if I had just played safe. It feels like I get to push back against fear and the worry of failure. Even if I do fail from time to time, I have also succeeded in some ways too, so it balances out. Read more>>