“Righteousness of behaviour is not something to be gained, to be arrived at, but it must be understood from moment to moment in the actuality of daily living.” — J. Krishnamurti
To work right is to balance action with analysis, to join passion and perception. It means turning our attention towards learning and to raise our skills. This requires time and work (energy). It means living day to day, making one drawing, one brush stroke or one movement at a time. When we’re doing our art, it’s not the time to think about the past or future, or about external issues. We have no agency over those things. They’re just distractions from creative living and act as resistant forces against taking creative action. In art, we create, we design and we do.
“Make good art.” — Neil Gaimen
Yes, we all know it’s hard. We’re always too busy, too tired, too “whatever” these days. Just the other day, I, too, fell upon the spell of resistance; I felt lazy, dumbfounded and lethargic. And there was a laundry list of “other things” to do too. Heck, I even had a bit of cold along with some back pain. But they were all excuses and I knew it. Such a moment is always a test of the will. It’s the universe saying once again “is this all you got? is that your level of commitment? Perhaps you’re not the artist you think you are! (how rude I say!)
“Do rather than don’t.” — Irwin Greenberg
Then, I remember that where I put my attention defines my state of being. So I drag my ass into the studio and begin. I go through my rituals that get me going. I say no to everything else. I prioritize. I organize. I get my hands dirty and take the bull by the horns. It needn’t be a complicated thing; just start. Almost immediately I felt better. Why? Because I’ve already won the battle by making the first move, a move that says a decision has been made; I’m gonna do my art and I know that I’ll be rewarded for it.
“The first step is the hardest.” — Marie De Vichy
And how do I know this? Well, because it might be the only thing in life that’s fair. In art, you get what you put in. The rest of human life can be so remarkably cruel and confusingly random. But in art, the feedback loop is immediate. If you look hard and listen carefully it tells you everything you need. When you’re off, you’ll get the alarm bells. When you’re into the flow of it, you’ll soar like an eagle. But no matter what, whether we’re conscious of it or not during the effort, making art brings meaningfulness. It teaches you to love, which is giving of one’s attention to something. And in that, we find joy. Not pleasure — which can be fleeting — but joy. You always feel good that you put in the time and energy, and this is regardless of outcome. And since the karma of art works out this way, we can confirm the process without fear — for fear is the great destroyer of art — and endure the hardship. This is not “the way” for most (non-creative) people; a life devoted to art requires taking the less travelled path, a path towards truth.
If you work just hard enough to understand it — well, then it makes your life so much easier. That seems like an obvious truth, but you’d be surprised how many people won’t take that route.” — Milt Kahl