At this point, it's not so much fear of failure....

...it's knowing how much work it will take to be a success. 


At one point on our journey towards a BFA, we all had to take a class about the business side of art. Business skills...something that way too many artists, myself included, are sadly lacking.

I don't remember much of that class. I still have a folder full of notes somewhere. Handouts and the like. Websites....

But the teacher said one thing that stuck. "Redefine success," he said, "to include what you're doing."

And I took this to heart.  For me, my favorite part of art is doing it. That's where I get the most enjoyment out of it. The last thing I'm thinking about is 'How am I going to sell this?".

Because every time I thought about how to sell it, whatever I was making was no longer enjoyable to make.

I mean, don't get me wrong; I'm happy to sell any of my pieces, my photos, my writing if anyone wants to buy it, but I can't go out there and push it, and I definitely can't think about it while I'm making.

And yes, every now and then I put something out there. Like dropping a line into a pond, just to see if anyone'll bite.  I'm definitely not interested in jumping into that pond with a big net, or trying to drain the pond, or dropping dynamite in, because I don't really want a bunch of fish. That's not the point is it? Not for me, at least.

I am at my most successful creatively when I am not worried about selling it. Thinking about selling tends to turn off my creativity. Then I am unsuccessful at both.

I'd rather be successful at something I'm good at.  So there you go; I've redefined success to include what I'm doing.

Thanks Phil!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Have the bullies won?

I am so disheartened today.   I just watched a video made by a Pennsylvania state legislator, a Democrat, who'd just found out that the Republican leadership had been calling committee meetings for weeks, forcing the legislators and their support staff to come in close contact with a person who had tested positive for Covid-19. And the Republican leadership had KNOWN the man was positive and THEY HADN'T TOLD THE DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE!   This is criminal.   Plain and simple.   It's also a bullying tactic. Force the other person into a dangerous situation.   Bullies run this country. Bullies run the congress and the courts. There's a bully in the White House and the people he has surrounded himself with are also bullies.   Bullies own the Corporations. This is somehow an admirable trait when making a success in business. Fine. Until they decide to do something that is dangerous to the general population, or even dangerous to a sm...
Read more

They have all the guns.....

Last night I was telling Grace my fears that some of these Governors might feel the need to call out the National Guard to deal with these protesters.  I was heading to my concern that with Trump backing the protesters, this could lead to civil war, but she interrupted me before I got there. I'm paraphrasing here: "Who do the Guard report to?" she said, "Is it Trump?" "No," I said, "They are essentially a state militia. They report to the Governor." "Oh," she said. I went on to say one of my concerns was that someone high up would decide that Trump had to be removed by force.... "Who does the military report to?" she said. "Well, technically Trump's the Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces...." "So they would be on his side." she said. "Technically, yes, but what I'm talking about would have to involve people in Congress as well. Would have to be people from both Republi...
Read more

The Least Uncomfortable Position

Was thinking about plane travel. Long plane travel, when you're stuck in an airplane full of people, perhaps in a middle seat, for like 20+ hours. For me, this is horrendous. The noise, the crowd, the limited space for movement… it is just this side of physical torture. In order to survive that and not have panic attacks, I have to shut down large parts of my brain. I have to find the least uncomfortable position.  Because there is no comfortable position. None.  All positions are uncomfortable. The entire ordeal from walking into the airport to walking out at the destination is one long uncomfortable position.   So I shut down major portions of my consciousness. Develop tunnel vision. Lock away all feelings that aren't physical, and do my best to dampen those as well. That's the least uncomfortable position, soul-wise. And then I work to find the least uncomfortable physical position as well.   I do not think about how much I want to get out of that plane....
Read more