There Is No Excuse For Not Making The Thing

Just a nice picture of the Pacific coast.

There is a very tough lesson the most of us have to learn.  I am speaking to the creative types out there, the ones who can’t help fiddling with that dusty guitar over and over and those who add a few words to a story they started years ago.  We aren’t without any talent at all; we just don’t have “it”.  The acting version gets the smaller roles; the athletic version rarely gets to take the field.  We try and try to be in the game, but our DNA has only given us so much.  We lack the height or the voice or the look or the angle or the necessary understanding to be truly great. 

So many hours of my life have been soaked up by questioning all the passion I have to be creative. It is actual labor and it is natural and American to see what it has reaped.  It has never taken me anywhere, and only I can notice the incremental improvements I’ve made.  I have no dream of commercial success or serious readership, and any performances will most likely be done for free.  For so long I wondered why not quit it altogether.  I am also a fan of these things, too.  Why not just appreciate the art?  So many people just shout into the abyss, (or the modern term: ‘the internet’…) for someone to acknowledge and validate what has been crafted.  Is art in a vacuum still art?  Well, yes it is. 

The lesson we all have to learn is: Tough shit.

Those two words apply to every other adult pursuit in life.  You didn’t get the job.  You didn’t get accepted to medical school.  Your business is in trouble because of the economy. 

Tough shit.

All of those people are faced with crap every day and they have to figure out a way to move on.  Try another job, try another school, try another business approach.  Why should a creative person think they are outside of this aspect of humanity?  If you are in it for fame and glory and money then I’m not sure if you are creative type. But if you are in it because you just cannot escape the urge to say something to the world through canvas, song, or the written word; tough shit if no one’s paying attention.  Tough shit if you are broke.  Tough shit if your friends don’t get what you are doing.  Art isn’t a guarantee of anything.

Van Gogh wasn’t truly appreciated during his life.  Van Gogh!  Jimi Hendrix couldn’t get anything going in the US; it was London that made him famous.  We know these are geniuses and their work is unparalleled, but their challenges are very human.  The point is, even the truly gifted aren’t guaranteed anything.  Tough shit for them, too.

There is another sobering realization. Ask yourself the question I ask myself all the time (with a twinge of shame.)  How supportive am I being to my fellow creative types?  Am I out there reading blogs and seeing shows or buying local music?  Could I be a little more involved in the community?  An adjustment of the prism with which you view your own successes is nice, but taking action is always more satisfying. I could always read more or take in more to involve myself in the world of creativity. We all want to be heard.  We can start by hearing each other a little more. 

To those who are shaky at the starting line:  you have nothing to lose.  ‘Tough shit” is harsh but liberating.  It does not have to make sense.  You don’t have to justify the book you are writing or your gardening blog. I think it’s time we remember that we don’t all need audiences; at least not for everything we make in our lives. Get back in the garage, pick up your woodworking tools and get covered in sawdust. Go take the photos or try to paint.  Just pick up the guitar again and challenge yourself to learn a few more chords.  You are not going to the Grammys and you are not making a platinum album. But you are making something.