The Artist's Ultimate Choice: the only path to success!

A humorously serious look at life’s trials & tribulations,
American politics, religion, and other social madnesses by Beth Isbell.

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roxybeast
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The Artist's Ultimate Choice: the only path to success!

Post by roxybeast » May 8th, 2009, 6:17 pm

Can you relate? You get to the point artistically where you watch someone work and go, I can do that, play like that (draw like that, paint like that, write like that), ... I understand what they're doing, might take some work, but yes, I can do that ... and then all of the sudden you stop & think ... yes, but do I want to?

It's not about not wanting to put in the effort to do it ... but more asking is that me as an artist? ... Is that how I want to sound? ... Is that the message or sound I want to make? Is it really what I LOVE to do?

The idea of being able to do something beautiful but choosing not to because you prefer to create something else equally or more beautiful to you. How do you handle the situation when you get to the point where you can do multiple things well, but realize that to move forward as an artist, even as a human, you have to narrow down your field of focus.

My friends Kate & Amy share their views ...
Kate: "Beth, i have been faced with this feeling many times in my technical career... And i think sometimes you have to do things just to be sure you can, but once you know your capacity you are much freer to do what you like. I mean, if you don't try a few times, you might be missing out, but that doesn't mean you have to keep on with something that isn't you. Unless it is paying the bills."
Amy: "hey Beth, recently my sweetie decided to call it quits with his jazz stuff. Not that he didn't love it, not that he wasn't good at it, just that he has other fish to fry and the amount of work to maintain the jazz was over the top and cutting into his other stuff. He decided to focus on what was the most rewarding and promising and what his heart was most in to. it was a hard decision to let go...but he feels there will be many rewards in his other genres.
How do you, as an artist or person, handle it when you first realize that while you still want to know & learn it all, you realize not that you can't continue to do that, but maybe to reach that next artistic plateau, you should instead make choices? While I regret anyone giving up music ... I think Amy gets what I'm saying ... what if you love something more ... in my case, this musical style over that musical style, but in her beau's case, maybe he chooses to love something more than playing jazz, and as a result of that choice, those things will grow!
Amy: "exactly Beth, and guess what? He just produced 2 new albums and remixed and released 2 others. talk about fresh energy! Moving on from a few tightly held loves was necessary for him to excel in other areas! ... It is good to explore all possiblities that are interesting to you, but as you mature in those fields, you could develop an expertise and love for one over the others, making perhaps a clear path to your personal vein of gold...and since mastery in that field or genre is never ending, it could be a lifelong journey in and of itself. For some it is...for others their paths make twists and turns, but that has to be determined while on the journey."
Yes, there are many paths ... but what I'm discussing is a basic & very interesting aspect of human nature. When we first learn - we naturally want to know it all, to know everything, ... but as we grow as an artist, we have to sometimes resist that urge - and because it's a natural built-in very strong urge, it's sometimes very hard to do and sometimes even harder to see we need to ... but the result of making that choice, narrowing our focus, sometimes makes us more recognizable and appreciated as an artist ... it makes our voice clearer!

Try everything, learn what you can, but eventually choose what you like ... narrow your focus and become great at your most loved choices ... let them carry your heart and passion ... and your voice may finally be heard rising like a star above the din of humanity! This is a hard, but necessary, lesson to anyone wanting to make their dream a reality!

Remember: Dream big, focus small.

Perhaps this example will help ... imagine you are at a crossroads with a 100 paths to choose from ... in your youthful exuberance you choose to explore all 100, find out what is down each road, but ALWAYS you end up returning to the starting point - the crossroads - it's just human nature to do so - and while there is wisdom in this process - it does not yield progress ... but as you mature as a person and artist, you find yourself focusing on the path you love the most & find the journey leads to love ... when that switch turns on, the world begins to notice your light, your love, your journey, your dream. :)

AlanJP
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Joined: May 8th, 2009, 6:50 pm

Building dreams

Post by AlanJP » May 8th, 2009, 7:26 pm

Very thought provoking. I often ask myself, "are you building your own dream, or building someone elses?" I sometimes find myself caught working on someone elses dream, or vision, or letting them influence me to the point that I lose my own identity, my own voice. We must have our own dreams and visions of how to get there. I like the concept of dreaming big and then haveing a laser focus to make it come true. Just like water, if it gets spread out too wide or thin, it loses its velocity. We are like that too. I constantly have to rein myself in and say, "what is my dream" and what am I doing to get there? Then set the laser sight on it and make it happen.

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