Many of you on the list are artists of some kinds. Writers. Screenwriters. Painters. Creatives. Entrepreneurs. I clipped this list of things to do to make yourself miseable from Mary Chapin Carpenter. And I wanted to reframe them as a list of things to do to make yourself awesome and successful as an artist -- and to love it all!
1. "Comparison is sin," my Buddhist friends tell me. Forget yourself. Forcus on your work. Compare your vision of your desired end result to your assessment of the current state of that result. Take action. Create and adjust… Repeat until you're satisfied that reality matches the vision.
2. Another thing my Buddhist friends have taught me is "Expect nothing; be ready for anything!" So talk to your family if that feels comfortable and useful to you but do NOT expect them to cheer you on. Holding expectations for others leads to manipulation, dysfunctional communication and lots and lots of disppointment.
4. The stories of now great artists and writers being rejected hundreds, even thousands of times are legend. And many are true. I can't tell you how many writers labour away in obscurity, only to hit the bullseye with one tome. And then, the publisher deams all their earlier work to be "fantastic." It takes a lot of practice to become a successful creator and that means striking out way more than you smash it into the upper deck. Do your work, for your work. Let others decide if it's good, or not. And in the meantime, while they're making up their mind about it, promote the hell out of it!
5. While "stick with what you know" is often good advice, it can be limiting. Every now and then stick your nose where it doesn't belong. Adopt "beginners mind." Learn and write and paint about something entirely knew for you. Even it doesn't crack the top ten list, it'll stretch you, grow you and make you better able to stick with what you know and make it interesting to us.
6. Money is important, but don't let it dictate to you. Separate your art from your day job. Take care of your survival and, if you work at it, your art will take care of yourself, and maybe, later, you.
7. Some social convention exist for a reason; some don't. So pick and choose the ones you reject and the ones you bow to. Personally, I have no trouble driving on the right side of the road when that is the norm, and the left where that is the norm. I don't like it, but I'm willing to write the dreaded book proposal because without it, I make getting a book contract almost impossible. So use your head, pick and choose your conventions to support your art.
8. Gag me. Who cares what your family would love. And underneath the specifics of what they would love you to do are all the good things about wanting you to be happy, successful, acknowledged for the person/artist you are. You should be a doctor or a decorator are just surface was of saying, "We love you. We want the best for you!" But they don't know what best; you do!
9. Again, pick and choose well. Sometimes commissions can support your real art, sometimes they lead you into uglyland. Think first. Pick only ones that pay good, and move you toward your real goal. Then stop.
10. I think it's fine to set unachievable goals. After all you don't really know they are achievable or not until you achieve them. And I know many who have failed many times, only to finally succeed. But, my final suggestion is to progress "poco a poco" -- little by little. Some great results come quickly. Most take a long time. You need grit: long-term perseverance fired by passion and creative tension. So, take as long as it takes, but do commit to the big impossible goal and do what it takes. And when you complete the result you most care about, celebrate your impossible achievement. |
