Conjuring up the Artistic Flair
There are questions in my mind. They have been there for
quite some time. What does it actually take to make a living out of the art
that you create? What does it really take to earn from your writings, paintings,
illustrations, videos, podcasts, etc? What does art really demand?
Love and Dedication? Working your days and nights off? Yes.
But we have been doing that. Haven’t we? We have tried and tried and tried. We
have failed and tried and failed. We have persisted. We have begun again and
again. Sometimes beginning was easy, continuing was tough. We have cultivated
patience. We have been consistent. But it hasn’t really paid off. Now, has it?
We wanted to be an overnight success story with thousand followers. But we have
learnt the hard way that big things most often take big time. But what more does
it take apart from patience and perseverance.
The Elusive Artistic Mojo
Not every day is a good day for channeling our creative
juices. There have been days we have slogged without creating a good end
product. Some days we have just made trash drafts after drafts, plans and schedules
that eventually lead nowhere. We have struggled with the Writer’s Block. The
Artist’s Way. We have taken strolls in
the garden, sipped coffee by the window, watched the sun setting in the horizon
from the terrace. We have made peace with our lack of motivation. We have
given way to sleep and listlessness. And, we have time and again shaken
ourselves up to sit by the desk and just do it.
Art demands our
entire presence.
We cannot be thinking about payments while trying to create things
or build worlds out of nothingness. Like Elizabeth Gilbert has suggested in
The Big Magic, we shouldn’t force out art to pay the bills. Just do it for the
sake of doing it. Just make good art, like Neil Gaiman says. Makes sense, no?
You don’t choose your
Art. Art chooses you.
What’s your passion? You ask yourself. Don’t worry. Your
passion shall come to you when the time is right.
"My parents thought I was psychotic. That was the diagnosis. I used to read a lot, I was very shy and I didn't socialise very easily.” – Paulo Coelho
Art demands you to
become a phoenix.
Burn, burn, and burn some more, till you become a phoenix. Art asks for
struggle.
Time and learning go hand in hand. Time is a great teacher. It fuels
your creative process. Life’s
experiences help you create better.
Do you need to trade your sanity for churning out
masterpieces? Do you need to stake your mental well-being for crafting
bestsellers? Do you need to bleed on blank canvas/ blank word document to build
your life around your art?
NO. A resounding clear No.
Art will better itself slowly with time, considering you put
in your time and efforts right. But make sure to pull yourself back the moment
you realize that you are about to fall off the edge. Art cannot be forced. It
has to come willingly. It can be seduced and lured out. But never demanded.
Obsession is not the right approach to art. Opening the wounds again and again
to fuel your ‘passion’ isn’t the right way to living.
Art should be a way out of grief and pain. A way to heal.
Holding onto your pain, grief and wounds to keep that channel of anguish open
for art’s sake isn’t right.
Do share your thoughts/ rant/ questions on the ebb and flow of the artistic stream.
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