022 - Being Comfortable Outside The Machine

What does it take to find success as a creative?

Image by Sergey Zolkin

What does it take to find success as a creative?

I dunno about you but when I am making something, writing or drawing, I need total peace and quiet.

There cannot be any distractions or potential for distraction. For the level of focus I’m talking about I need to be utterly alone.

006 - Embracing The Solitude
The peace of creating in the quiet and the contrast of the noisy world.medium.com

That can be difficult for our loving others to understand, and there can sometimes be conflict. You’re a bit of a primadonna in their eyes, your work is far too precious.

Ever encounter that?

I’m sure you have.

But in order to make something really unique and worthwhile we’ve got to get outside the machine of the world.

Most people never get outside the machine, they spend their lives in it. They never really get to see what it’s like on the outside because they’ve been conditioned to believe that it’s dangerous out there.

You’ll be alone, cast aside, worthless.

But we know different. We know that there’s something better, something special out there beyond the apparent comfort of society.

What Happens When We’re Complete?

I don’t go there enough. Although even as I write this I can feel it calling me. It’s difficult to explain.

Words are wonderful, but they are totally inept at helping me explain what I feel. It’s the quiet, absence of everything, yet at the same time it’s more than everything.

Late at night when everyone is asleep is when I feel it most. Or early in the morning before everyone rises. Morning is probably the most powerful.

So when we are done, when we need to use the toilet or get a coffee or lunch, or when the kids come home, or when a knock comes to the door, what happens then?

Or maybe we’ve finished a project and now it’s time to flog it, how do we handle that scenario?

Many creative people struggle to deal with this fuck-up of a society. Myself included.

But if we are to make a living, to even achieve more than just a living we’ve got to make peace with how things are here. Otherwise we pull ourselves apart.

Thus society exists in our reality and to condemn it we condemn ourselves. The truth of the matter is that at some unconscious level of our being we chose to be here.

It’s what’s giving birth to our creations.

To Be Successful

First;

Well, first of all we’ve got to define success for ourselves.

If you’ve not already done that then you should. Write it down.

Don’t be afraid to do this. Inside you do have ambition, and part of the creative process is to acknowledge this. To deny it is to deny yourself.

Accept that you want this, that or the other. Write it down and wallow in it. Accept it and really feel it. Let the ambition you have free.

Holding on to it, denying it, kills your creativity. This might take some practice but you’ve got to do it.

Second;

Accept that the world is how it is, and how it is provides you and me and everyone else with inspiration for something better.

The world and everything in it didn’t come into being to be perfect all in one hit. For if that was to be the case there would be little or no point in existing.

To exist is to grow and develop and become more. So in this, accept that the world is perfect becoming.

Third;

Move between the two places of inner world of creativity and outer world of inspiration. Use the outer world to fund and fuel your creativity and leave aside all these fucked up ideas of right and wrong that you hold.

Money is bad, Sex is bad, Alcohol is bad, Business is bad, People are bad and so on.

Make in your space, then come back here and sell your shit. Make some money to fuel your ideas and creativity.

Finally;

Enjoy it.

We only get one go as this to the best of my waking knowledge. Although I do have some far-out ideas about that… which I won’t go into now.

As always, I’m talking to myself. If you get something from it, then great.

Originally published at larrygmaguire.com on July 3, 2017.

The Artist’s Manifesto is a short book about staying true to our art. It is a call to Artists and Creatives like you to create from the heart with passion and integrity, disregarding the need for applause and recognition. It’s available from 13th May 2017. Grab your FREE copy here.

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Howdy, I’m Larry, Writer & Artist. Thanks for taking the time to read my stuff. I write about art & creativity. When I’m not doing that I write short stories about the ordinary lives of people and the challenges they face. My stuff can be edgy, hard hitting, and sometimes controversial, but never contrived. If that’s your bag you can Sign-up To Sunday Letters Here.