"Inspiration - Table for Two"
On a creativity note: PC and I had a conversation last night regarding her art work. She is, as I have mentioned before, a phenominal artist. Her works are outstanding in every sense - technically and spiritually. She paints from her soul, and her soul is deep and insightful. Yet PC has a longing to earn monetary rewards for her work, as well she should and could. In her longing, she has considered seeking out the answer to the question "what do normal people want to hang in their homes?" I told her I felt she should continue painting from her soul, but she flatly reminded me that she and I aren't normal. So what do you think of this quandry? Should PC find some lovely landscapes to paint? Should she depict sailboats or wildlife in the hopes that Average Joe and the Mrs. will hang her work in their living room? Or, should PC continue to create existencial, esoteric works of art and wait for someone who is "not normal" to discover her unique insight? I feel quite certain that there is a middle ground. Some of the greatest artists of all times have sought that middle ground - the place where vision and talent meet marketability and appeal - while others threw caution to the wind and painted what their spirits led them to paint.
I'm not a painter, I'm a writer (I guess, at least that is where my passions often lead me) so I'm not entirely sure what the right recommendation for PC would be. But I do believe that if we create for the purpose of financial rewards, we will undoubtably grow jaded with each rejection. At the core of this conversation I took one jewel of truth away just for me; it matters not that my songs were rejected, only that I created something personal and true. The songs on my project that were written to "fill the ten" are not my favorites. The songs that inspired the project are. When I listen to those original four, my spirit soars because I FEEL inside what I felt when I wrote them. So if I've stopped writing because success failed me, I have lost more than royalties - I've lost a piece of myself so very vital to the wholeness of Robin. Since I crossed the line between vision and marketability, I lost the vision and desire completely. Bottom line: is striving for success worth losing a piece of ourselves?
If you write, sing, dance, paint, capture, interpret...create, do it with no thoughts of reward from the outside. If you temper your creativity with the criticisms and rejections of others, you will never know how much you could have produced. Scotty, write your book! It doesn't matter if anyone reads it, publishes it, learns from it, cries over it, or buys it for another at Christmas. If you have a story to tell, tell it as your spirit guides you. In your words there may be magic nuggets of truth that will keep your spirit alive once you are gone... or better yet, revive your spirit as you create, and years later as you re-read. Sheri, you need to keep writing as God guides your pen, and continue singing as God guides your instrument. The greatests gifts we give ourselves is the communion with our creative souls. Michael, get the camera back out and capture the beauty in the world. You are free when you shoot... you transcend work and responsibility and become your purest self when you are reproducing the natural beauty on film and matte. Stranger to my blog - do what you do. You wouldn't be here reading if you weren't searching for something to light your spirit on fire.
There are dozens of Brittany Spears on the radio today, and dozens more waiting and hoping to be discovered for their ability to replecate the popular sound. They will never go down in history like Jim Morrison, Stevie Wonder, and one day John Mayer. Do you want fame and fortune, or do you have something unique that beats at the walls of your flesh crying, "LET ME OUT!" If you fall into the first catagory, then you don't deserve to seek the greatness you think is so important. I want a new generation of ARTISTS to rise up and say, "I don't care if you like me. I care if I like myself. Here's what I have to offer. Take it or leave it, it's unique and it's purely me."
Your muse is whispering over your shoulder right now. Are you listening? When you're done reading my blog, will you heed her suggestions, or just go play another game of solitaire?
I'm not a painter, I'm a writer (I guess, at least that is where my passions often lead me) so I'm not entirely sure what the right recommendation for PC would be. But I do believe that if we create for the purpose of financial rewards, we will undoubtably grow jaded with each rejection. At the core of this conversation I took one jewel of truth away just for me; it matters not that my songs were rejected, only that I created something personal and true. The songs on my project that were written to "fill the ten" are not my favorites. The songs that inspired the project are. When I listen to those original four, my spirit soars because I FEEL inside what I felt when I wrote them. So if I've stopped writing because success failed me, I have lost more than royalties - I've lost a piece of myself so very vital to the wholeness of Robin. Since I crossed the line between vision and marketability, I lost the vision and desire completely. Bottom line: is striving for success worth losing a piece of ourselves?
If you write, sing, dance, paint, capture, interpret...create, do it with no thoughts of reward from the outside. If you temper your creativity with the criticisms and rejections of others, you will never know how much you could have produced. Scotty, write your book! It doesn't matter if anyone reads it, publishes it, learns from it, cries over it, or buys it for another at Christmas. If you have a story to tell, tell it as your spirit guides you. In your words there may be magic nuggets of truth that will keep your spirit alive once you are gone... or better yet, revive your spirit as you create, and years later as you re-read. Sheri, you need to keep writing as God guides your pen, and continue singing as God guides your instrument. The greatests gifts we give ourselves is the communion with our creative souls. Michael, get the camera back out and capture the beauty in the world. You are free when you shoot... you transcend work and responsibility and become your purest self when you are reproducing the natural beauty on film and matte. Stranger to my blog - do what you do. You wouldn't be here reading if you weren't searching for something to light your spirit on fire.
There are dozens of Brittany Spears on the radio today, and dozens more waiting and hoping to be discovered for their ability to replecate the popular sound. They will never go down in history like Jim Morrison, Stevie Wonder, and one day John Mayer. Do you want fame and fortune, or do you have something unique that beats at the walls of your flesh crying, "LET ME OUT!" If you fall into the first catagory, then you don't deserve to seek the greatness you think is so important. I want a new generation of ARTISTS to rise up and say, "I don't care if you like me. I care if I like myself. Here's what I have to offer. Take it or leave it, it's unique and it's purely me."
Your muse is whispering over your shoulder right now. Are you listening? When you're done reading my blog, will you heed her suggestions, or just go play another game of solitaire?
posted by Robin at 9:01 AM
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