On a regular basis I’m asked, “Do you miss doing your art?” The answer is “no,” but today I heard a perspective that articulated perfectly why I don’t. I was being interviewed by Patrick Kiger for secondact.com, a website devoted to helping people over 40 with all aspects of their lives.

Patrick had first interviewed me for a piece he was writing about my good friend and colleague Mary Ellroy. During that conversation he mentioned that he’d like to interview me at a future time, which turned out to be today. He’s very interested in the whole idea of re-invention, so my transitions from schoolteacher to mother to egg decorator, entrepreneur, speaker, author and coach was fodder for his mill.

He, too, asked me if I ever missed doing the eggs. I explained how creative it is coaching entrepreneurs, how my mind fires ideas like never before and that my clients’ creativity is satisfying to me as well as to them. “You’ve made business your art form,” he said matter-of-factly. I felt like saying, “Eureka!” It was crystal clear in that moment that I am still practicing art, but in a medium that is unlike any that I’ve used before.

Patrick reminded me of how Salvador Dali spent the first half of his career painting and the second half self-promoting. He didn’t stop being an artist, but his medium changed. I liked the comparison.