There’s a great quote by Mark Twain that states, “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing; it was here first.”
And it’s dawning on me just how much this is true for artists, who, let’s face it, complain a lot. Or at the very least have a deep-seated begrudging sense of entitlement.
Obviously there are problems in the arts industry. There are problems in every industry. And to be honest, there will always be problems because industries are formed by people. People who are imperfect and can be greedy, forgetful and even intentionally malicious. Does that mean we should stop pointing out the issues or stop hoping for a better system? No! Of course not! It’s possible to recognise that things may never be perfect whilst actively campaigning for change.
But this blog post right here – well, this blog post is not about people advocating true change. This post is about how incredibly, amazingly, stupendously pointless it is to approach art – nay, life – with a sense of entitlement. The sense of entitlement that says, “I made this, so you must love it, fund it and raise it on a pedestal because I’M talented.” Lots of people are talented and guess what? Lots of people are also working their butts off (with, ideally, humility and gratitude). Yes, with humility and gratitude. Name a more powerful duo*. I’ll wait.
Look, there are some scenarios in which we all just need to get over ourselves and change our approach. Often times, we’re just scared of changing our approach. We’d much rather complain about how the economy is faring, and about how freelancers ‘just don’t get paid that much/on time’, than make the effort to charge more/charge with interest/take some business classes.
Is your local theatre really a monolith or have you just avoided getting in touch with them because you’re ‘scared of rejection’? I mean, you won’t know until you try…
Plus, everyone’s scared of rejection. And what?
In Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, she states that what changed the game for her as a kid (and stopped her from living a fearful life), was the realisation that her fear was boring. Her fear was the most commonplace emotion that she could live from. An instinct that didn’t make her unique, but rather like everyone else who likely shared the exact same fears. She started to change her life.
And we’re also able to change our lives in any given moment.
Look, it feels icky to self-promote your work, yes? Perhaps you’re scared of what others will think of you. Perhaps you just don’t like talking about yourself?
No one cares.
As in…your worries may or may not be legitimate. The struggle may well be real. But also…no one cares if you don’t make ‘it’ because you’re scared to self-promote. So you have two choices really. Suck it up or don’t. It’s on you.
Didn’t get your short story accepted into that really cool magazine? Alright…try again?
That one critic didn’t like your novel? Cool story bro. Tell it again. And again. And again. And once more in hardback for good measure.
That person doesn’t like you? Oh well. Moving on.
You didn’t get into that cool scheme for balloon-moulding puppeteers? Blow off some steam, cut those strings and get back to it.
Your historical fantasy novel isn’t published yet? Okay, stop writing then.
Oh, you don’t want to stop writing? Guess you gotta keep going then.
You see? You have two choices.
- Stop
- Keep going.
Or a third, I suppose. Which is where a lot of people get stuck in.
3. Keep going halfheartedly whilst stopping to complain at every given opportunity
Sometimes a person can spend so much time wallowing in a missed opportunity, that they miss the twenty other opportunities that opened up. Spend less time wallowing & more time…I don’t know? Making the art you claim to love making.
Actually, that’ s a point, isn’t it? Because complaining about something doesn’t make people more sympathetic to your plight. At least, not the people you want to take notice of you. What it does it make those people wonder why you’re doing what you do. It makes people think: ‘Wow, maybe this is so hard for you because YOU can’t hack it.’ Which is harsh and perhaps untrue, but how would they know? That’s the picture you’re painting. I mean, if a kid was to eat grapes, only to throw them up and exclaim how disgusting grapes were, before picking up the purple mush and placing it back in his mouth, you’d be a little….grossed out, right? Like damn kid, try another fruit.
Strange analogy but seriously, nobody is holding up a gun to your head and forcing you to be creative. And the world isn’t going to collapse if you procrastinate that poetry anthology of yours for another four days. People aint gonna stay awake while you sleep on your dreams. Or they might do. But they’ll probably be staying awake to work on their own dreams.
Obviously we’re not emotionless droids working 24/7 on our goals. We’re going to need a pick me up from time to time. Some support. Some good ole Bill Mathers leanin’ on me. And I do think it’s fine to express disappointment. But its when complaining becomes a habit that it causes problems. And it’s everywhere. It’s the writer who spends more time tweeting about how hard writing is, than actually writing. It’s the actor who spends more time complaining about auditions than actually working on their craft. Let’s be honest – complaining is boring, unproductive and never birthed from gratitude. And I hazard to suggest that we, as artists, should be grateful.
Let’s suck it up and be happy. We’re always talking about how art improves the world, right? Well how can anyone believe you when you’re trying to play the role of miserable, tortured, entitled creative? Receive the opportunities that comes your way with grace and meet obstacles with diligence and faith.
Look…that stranger didn’t donate to your kickstarter? That sucks, but he didn’t have to. That other person who did? Well that’s amazing and we thank you and we’re humbled good sir. Simple.
We’re spending our lives playing and exploring and making people laugh and cry and we’re living out our dreams and we’re incredibly blessed, so we should behave as such.
*Love and forgiveness is a strong duo, fairplay.
anartisttravels 