“Knowledge is useful until it gets in the way.” — David Bohm, Quantum Physicist
Sometimes we can be overly obsessed with information. Seeking answers thru books, lectures, and gurus/teachers/experts we can get lost in the chase and forget about finding what’s most important — ourselves. At some point, each person has to stop and hold off on looking for things outside of oneself. For the artist, this is essential. Otherwise, he will always be just a follower, conditioned to think, like and do what’s already been done. We already know that algorithms of search engines guide us back to where we’ve already been leading to what is referred to as confirmation bias so we can never change or discover something new. This conformity is the greatest danger to the creative. It destroys living in the present with authenticity, meaning and real joy. It destroys the concept of wholeness and acceptance. Ultimately, conformity destroys what it is to be human.
All of us (artists or not) need to develop skill, for without it, we won’t get very far. But we mustn’t let our passion — whose root derives from our deep suffering love for something — subside for the sake of psychological security. We all have to find our own voice, our own way of doing things. We may not be special, but we are all unique. And those who dare to let their uniqueness show have a better time of it.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Philosopher
It’s easy to be tricked to think “we know.” But we are so conditioned, from birth to adulthood, that we never mature having spent so little time finding out what’s inside and who we really are. We meander around in searching or worse, in avoidance — wasting our lives in the distraction of meek entertainment or consumption. Some of us switch from job to job, relationship to relationship, city to city and end up in the same place as we started — lost and confused. It’s all too easy to fall into this trap, the mindset that the answer or happiness is out there, somewhere. And because the truth is illusive, our minds get very good at forming illusions that give us temporary refuge from our disorientation. It’s why we form certain disabling beliefs or bad habits even when we know they hurt us.
“All illusions have an extraordinary vitality.” — J. Krishnamurti, Philosopher
So what do we do? Well, we can look inside rather than outside. It’s still great to read and research. It’s also okay to be influenced but we must allow our subconscious, our intuitive bliss and taste for those things that really move us and separate us from others, to come about and to spring forth. And they will. We think of an artist’s voice or style when we speak of this. But for it to happen, there must first be trust and faith in the process. Hence it’s so important to engage in play (no, I don’t mean video games) because in play, our real knowledge, our real understanding and true passions surface. As they emerge, there will be a release. This is liberation. The results, at first, will not be pretty (how could they be?) but as we strengthen our resolve to be free, we get better. With time and persistence we get better. And we’ve witnessed this in history by those who are or have been faithful to their cause, creative or otherwise. Their work serves as both a reminder and an inspiration of what is possible.
“Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.” ― Allen Ginsberg, Writer
Our course, it’s frightening to do our own thing. Security, comfort and social approval help us alleviate our fears and anxiety, at least termporarily. Who doesn’t like to feel loved and respected? Who wouldn’t want more material comfort? But to live, dependent on the outside for inside happiness just doesn’t work.
“The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.” — Epictetus, Philosopher
Artists, among others, have always faced the most immediate resistance to being who they must become. If we’ve not faced financial struggle, rejection and outright mockery or insult, we’re probably not doing anything truly worth doing. To live honorably demands we take risks. The reward is not in the result — and whether it comes now, later or never is also irrelevant — but in the present process. The first step is what counts, not the last; it’s in the doing. The men and women who have lived boldly and truthfully in the past could always carry themselves with dignity, in sickness or in health, in poverty or in wealth. We can do the same.
“Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love.”― Rumi, Poet