Guts and cojones. Not to be gross, (too late!), but they are what we creative types are made of. Besides all the mushy stuff, the gooey, see-how-i-feel-and-think expressive stuff. Sometimes we want to cry, but most of the time we are feeling, and saying, "Bring it!! I'm ready. And I've BEEN ready!"
It takes a lot of guts to risk it all for your dreams. It takes years, and hard work, a lot of time and sweat and pain and rejection (very IN YOUR FACE, personal, DETAILED rejection) for NO guarantees, irregular pay, and being at the mercy of the public's "tastes." But, I for one, wouldn't do it any differently. It is what it is. It's how the world's set up. And the world that tries to figure everything out in black and white (one of my favorite color schemes, don't get me wrong here) and believes the answers are all on a calculator, doesn't always reward us for having these guts. Not financially, that is. Not in the eyes of those who measure success by how many homes you own, or cars you drive, or what designers you wear. Not to say we never get those things! I have in mind a home in the southwest, a fine little Cooper Mini and some serious footwear. But I digress!
There is a freedom in living your life expressively, whether it be through cartooning, writing, photographing, blogging, painting, dancing, acting, doing standup comedy, sculpting, or whatever freelance pursuit you choose. It takes major guts, and strength, and persistence and cojones. The price we pay for that freedom is uncertainty - working long hours and continuing our pursuit sometimes alone, sometimes in the community of others - through art co-ops, Facebook, comedy clubs . . . these spaces are very personal to me - but also very public. We don't know when the next check will get here, if our show will be a hit or a miss or a wow-that-looks-good-but-I'm-going-to-Applebee's floppola. I mean, how many people love your stuff but never pony up? And, we can't live, in spite of the best songs Motown can offer up on the subject, on LOVE. But love of what we do keeps us at it. We don't always appreciate the comments of those who devalue our art (like those who think we should only get our supplies cost as tax deductions, rather than the value of the work of art - don't get me started!), or think it's all playtime. Like the old anecdote goes, when an artist was asked, "How long did it take to paint that picture?" and he said, "30 years."
I've had the book "Outliers" quoted to me more than once, and I want to laugh out loud, but being a fairly well-mannered, if oft-outspoken Southern Girl, I do not. The book proffers the scientifically based info that people who are "successful" have spent 10,000 hours on their art, craft, skill, business, or whatev. HA!! Tell us something we DON'T know. Every artist, dancer, actor, comic, and writer I know has spent that minimum - we love what we do, and we do it nearly incessantly. Every minute of my day is about communicating or seeing things differently, uniquely. That is, when I'm not eating chocolate or watching a vampire movie. But hey, even then I'm learning.
In this tough economy, and I believe we will see it turn SOON, I salute the creatives. The persistent, courageous, hard-working people who live with no guarantees but that the more we work on what we love, the better we'll get - whether or not it ever gets rewarded in a conventional, Uncle-Sam-gets-too-much-of-it-anyway sense.
Onward and upward, y'all. I, for one, am cheering us on.
peace, trl
