048 - “You’re Wrong. You’re Trying To Make Talentless People Feel Good”.
The Dumb Facebook Comment That Got Me Fired Up!
Image by Verne Ho
The Dumb Facebook Comment That Got Me Fired Up!
Welcome to the Editor’s Journal; A daily thought on writing, the creative process, art, work, the world and how it all goes together. Every morning I rise early, I sit here in the quiet of my kitchen and I write whatever’s prominent. There’s no clever headlines and no script, just open and honest thoughts. I hope you enjoy the read. If you like this article please offer some love by hitting the 💚 cheers!
Everyone is an artist, and everyone has the potential to create art in their work if they choose to.
But very few of us choose to.
For most of us, work is a means to an end. It’s something that we’d rather not do but we do it because we have to.
We have made our commitments, primarily to others, and we’ve got to keep them. The goals we have are largely head goals and they are rarely our own.
Most of the work we do fulfills other people’s goals, goals that are largely born from the head also. So we go a level deeper into meaninglessness.
This meaningless work most of us do is unfortunately the basis for the society we live in. It is simply the way life is so we might as well just get on with it, right?
It is my belief that how we work contributes greatly to our state of mental health.
I believe that the psychological conflict most of us experience between what we do and what we wish we were doing causes a psychic imbalance that eventually kills us
Yeah sure we’re all going to die, but why live a life doing something we’d rather not do? That’s insane to me.
If everyone was brave enough to follow their heart I wonder what kind of world we’d create?
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.
What Is An Artist?
Everyone is an artist, and although not everyone would agree, to me it is true.
I accept that not everyone expresses that ability to create unique and beautiful things, or even come up with novel ideas, but the ability is there nonetheless.
Maybe they haven’t taken opportunity to uncover it.
Or maybe they don’t believe they possess creative abilities. Regardless, there are many who help keep those people where they are.
Some artists indeed can be particularly closed minded when it comes to belief in inherent creativity in their fellow human beings.
I shot a post out on Facebook a couple weeks ago where I stated that everyone is an artist. Here’s a response I got;
She said;
I think you’re trying to make talentless people with no calling to feel good.
Interesting idea.
This young lady is so far off the mark it’s not funny.
When I refer to art, I’m not talking about stereotypical notions of what critics or even the general public would constitute as art.
Rather I’m talking about a state of mind.
Art is something that comes from a deeper connection with being.
It is the product of effort of those who dedicate themselves to a particular activity to the point they achieve mastery of it.
Once we bring our skills, dedication to learning, commitment, passion and integrity to the table, then that we have an opportunity to extract art form even mundane tasks.
Everything is art, or at least has the potential to be art depending on the mindset and approach of the individual.
So I don’t accept for a moment the comments from my Facebook “friend” above.
Their views are representative of a contracting mindset, one that keeps ordinary people from extraordinary things and I have no time for it.
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.
Dedicated Practice Vs. Imposed Monotony
There is a distinct difference in the state of mind between the master of a craft who practices that craft day in day out, and the ordinary worker who works a job.
They might practice the same skills every day but one creates art and the other creates nothing.
One becomes who they are through the practice. She understands the nature of it and finds a sense of flow from the experience.
The other finds the task tedious and laboursome. He does it because it pays the bills and he never really gets to the heart of it.
As such I think many of us are missing the real value from our work.
Now this doesn’t necessarily mean that we should stick doing something that we don’t love, in a place we’d rather not be.
On the contrary, life is short so if you’re not already doing what you want then you should leave your work and do it.
Sure, everyone has different sets of skills, some of which differ only slightly from one person to the next, but it doesn’t matter what it is, we can practice and become better.
Some things just feel right, no matter how good or bad we perceive ourselves to be at it.
It’s these things, the things that bring us joy, that we should pursue and dedicate ourselves to regardless of what others think.
That’s our greatest challenge.
Until we do we will continue to hurt and to struggle.
Articles From This Week
I was quieter than I would have liked again this week. I felt I needed time to get a handle on how I was structuring content.
You see, my overwhelming intention is to write material that means something. I also need to make a living so I need to be efficient with how I spend my time.
When I sit at this screen and type, the message needs to convey something heartfelt and real. Otherwise I should just stop.
I have a real difficulty hitting publish on something that firstly does not convey something I feel is important. If my passion for the topic is watery I can’t write.
Now that’s not to say I don’t ever produce a shit article, I likely have. But it does mean that I care about what I write.
So this week I took time to consider what and how I’m writing.
From here onwards, you can expect two quality articles from me per week, on Tuesday and Thursday. On Sunday as usual you’ll get Sunday Letters as normal.
These two weekly articles will be around the 1500 word mark or perhaps more, but rarely less.
They will be focused on giving you actionable content to help you become a better creative person. Or if you’re not yet doing what you love they help you make the creative transition.
The articles will be focused on Creativity and will be based on solid scientific research.
You’ll find no pop psychology or pseudoscience here, only reliable first hand information taken from scientific research papers and books from eminent experts in their field.
My intention is to give you something of greater depth and meaning. To help you find your creative center and do your best work.
Here’s what you missed this week;
Rustley Packet Man — I’m Going To Kill You!
Creative Play: It’s Not Just About Fun You Know!
That’s it for this week,
See you here Tuesday or on Storymaker during the week.
Larry
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.
Originally published at larrygmaguire.com on August 6, 2017.
Like More of This Kind of Thing?
Howdy, I’m Larry, Writer & Artist. Thanks for taking the time to read my stuff. I write about art, creativity, business & marketing. 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.