Build a Fortress Around the Creative Life
question #1 from Laila Rezai
Laila Rezai - lailarezaiart.com sent me a number of interesting questions related to my request for artists to send in some topics for me to talk about. So I am going to tackle these one at a time and release them over the next week or two.
Did you ever find that being an artist felt demoralizing because it didn't always provide a steady stream of income?
The lack of steady income from artistic production can be demoralizing over time. It can wear on the artist that is trying to become self sustaining from studio production. But being demoralized as an artist is another subject.
An artist can be demoralized by many different things. Not only lack of financial support from one’s work, (that can be solved by a number of different solutions), but also by a lack of time, a lack of energy, a lack of discipline, a lack of organization, a lack of concentration, a lack of stamina and especially a lack of a plan. All of these things and many others can be demoralizing for a creative person causing hopelessness, resentment, a lack of confidence and trust, and a general negativity making it nearly impossible to move forward or to reach deeply.
For this reason, an artist needs to learn how to think correctly, strategize correctly, adopt and shape the right philosophy, gain control over the mind, avoid addiction, become equanimous in heart and mind, commit to their pursuits with clarity and determination, shape their environment and relationships to be conducive to their creative intentions. These things, when mastered build a fortress around the artist’s creative life so that circumstances cannot dislodge them from their purpose.
Once a person realizes in their bones that they are an artist it feels almost like a curse at first. It is not a choice. They must follow that path or feel forever dissatisfied and unfulfilled in their depth. It is their calling, and they know it. These are the natural born artists attracted to it from childhood. I am one of those kind of people and I sympathize with all the artists, poets, writers, composers, dancers, etc. driven by that mysterious inner fire to pursue the creative life.