Success is largely an accident
as far as I can tell. A lot of things coming together at a particular
point. That includes desire. Desire is one of the most important
factors. How much do you want it, etc. (bad enough to step on
someone?). Timing is another. But survival is something else.
Survival is between you and yourself, and I can help there. It
is much less about all of those things coming together. Much,
much less. Survival is success, of course, personal success.
Think of it that way.
If you can take the paranoia
out of the contest everyone tries to make art, well, you have
a greater chance of being able to put that energy everyone squanders
on competition into something positive in your work --that speaks
to the heart of life, not the ego--I believe that this will give
you a fuller, longer, happier life as an artist. One that will
represent personal success. Artists need to lift each other up,
and together they can make art a better place for everyone.
Yes, artists learn from suffering
like everyone else. And it may give depth to their work as well.
But this whole idea of the miserable artist who cuts off his
ear is a myth. Some artists buy into it. Frankly I think you
could say that the opposite is true. Maybe art was the only thing
that keeps them from cutting off their ear. Maybe art is the
cure, the healer, the uplifter. I believe that. Life has hurt
these people, and art has helped them survive. Being a success
or not may cause them pain, but that is not art. That is success.
A different beast altogether. I try to help people understand
that, remember that, that art is what is important, not success.
If they can remember that, they can survive.
I also think it is worth
pointing out that no one gets out without a struggle, so there
is no need to go looking for it, as though that is what the artist
needs to make art. Nonsense. It will find all of us, and we have
to be ready, not to run and hide, but to muster the strength
to find a way through.
