I found a way to make my art pay!
Artists, musicians and the like do not have an easy path to success.
First there is a heck of a lot of competition out there.
Second, parents and guardians typically discourage this pathway -they know its hard to make it and they don’t want you to suffer- maybe they tried and failed and felt the heartache- nobody wants someone they care about to hurt.
Or worse maybe if they are bitter about life -they will be jealous or humiliated if you do make it.
Either way as a kid you were likely pushed to do more “practical“ things.
Some of us are blessed with parents and an upbringing that encourage our pursuit of dreams -and… some of us got screwed !
No matter what your upbringing was (or is), making ends meet as an artist is difficult.
It took me years and a lot of stumbling around to finally hit a balance between total creativity and something that made money. the stumbling was frustrating often doing stuff with my creativity that just felt like I was selling out! -giving up my soul and artistic integrity to get a paycheck. I felt empty -like i was wasting my life, restless and just miserable— if… i thought about it— so i often distracted myself with mind numbing “whatever” so i didn’t think about it -( I define “whatever” in a big range -from staring at the TV for hours ,watching silly shows and crap Movies- incessantly chasing the opposite sex, hanging out at the bar, self medicating, buying stupid shit, trying get rich quick schemes, the list goes on …) But that burning desire to create never went away and that “ damn-it i am wasting my time, I’m better than this” feeling just persisted. Then I would self sabotage my job or my relationship or whatever activity so I could justify moving on - does this sound familiar? Drive, desire, potential...but no plan. Hope is not a strategy and faith is great but only as fuel to take action !
Well my internal desire would not stop nagging at me , I kept searching, hoping, dreaming, visualizing and one day -someday I thought I was going to get lucky — why ?
Well I read somewhere that competence breeds luck , made sense , I had indeed experienced that “in the groove, in the zone “ state - where things just go right —you know when your on the mountain bike burning up the trail and everything just starts clicking, you catch just the right gear, the tires somehow bites the loose surface just in time, the balance is exactly where it needs to be and you are DANCING with the WARRIORS with your hair on fire. Ooooh I want that in every aspect of my life. It didn’t happen the first time you or I got on the bike or the skate board ,dirt bike, quad , skies , snow board what ever your weapon was . We had to work at it and we fell a lot -in fact if you weren’t getting close to out of control you weren’t learning much. And one fateful day guess what , all the trial and error clicks into place , your practice turned into competence and you got “lucky” and found that ZONE and you were … DANCING.
Now this can and does happen in any activity. In sports it is obvious and instant in its gratification. In other areas it can take some time. Plus life throws curves at you in any situation.
Back to the subject, finding that balance between creating art and making a living for me often meant doing things that felt unrelated and counterproductive to my purpose -and worse they took time away from becoming competent at what i wanted. How was i going to create my luck ?
I kept asking myself—
What if there was a way to create a “living”that payed the bills, maybe even more ?
AND it bought the time for me to practice and polish my art???? one that paid for the tools and equipment - gave me the freedom and wherewithal to experiment and perfect my art??
What if It didn’t burn up my entire day and most of my energy?
What if learning how to do it added to my ability to do and promote my passion ?
I found an answer ! there is a way!
But let me warn you first.
Anybody that tells you that your going to” hit the zone” the first time you sit on the “bike” is full of it.
So first —it requires the same commitment that you gave anything you succeeded at - when I got on a 160 hp race bike at the track, it taught me about commitment- when you head into a turn you better be ALL IN cuz if not it will toss you out like the garbage, and if you survive, that’s exactly how you will feel. (the bike won’t be happy either) Ok this isn’t as death defying as putting a knee down around a corner at 70 mph but the point is if your are not ready to commit - don’t jump on anything this powerful.
Second- when you get it right, you have to promise to remember why you did it -it is to do your art . Please do not loose site of the purpose for two reasons-
it will keep the fire lit as you learn the skills that you will need and
the “rich and famous life style” stuff -Expensive fast cars , toys, jewelry etc that you will be able to finally afford will be tempting ( go ahead if you want but do not loose site of your purpose ) that stuff is short lived and You are doing it to support your art.
Now I used the race bike analogy because the potential here is similar . There is a ton of horse power in this, you can get up and running in a short time. Just like the bike you are better off with a trusted mentor to teach you the track, get you proficient with the controls and keep you from going off the cliff. Going it alone will take you longer and put you at un-needed risk. Yes, Push your limits— but pick your own pace.
So what is it ? - I wish it had existed when I started out - this thing has taken exposure to the masses out of the hands of the powerful -away form the news papers, tv, music biz industry, and media moguls and put it in the hands of anyone that learns how to work it.
And it was right in front of my nose. It had slipped into my life and I didn’t even notice. I was being “too cool “to recognize how it was effecting me on a daily almost minute to minute basis and how effective it truly is.
The internet .
Why do you want to work it ?
It is a tool to support your ART
This thing can make you money while you sleep, while you practice, or even while you drive your luxury car. (snowboard, race bike …..whatever)
It will allow you to do whatever you want! It checked all the boxes i was asking myself.
It will even give you the BEST way to directly promote your Art.
I got to the point where i only need to spend a few hours a day. (and those hours are when I chose to spend them)
And it is helping me to “DANCE with the Warriors” in all the other areas of my life !
At first i had a hard time picturing myself with some little “make money at home” business -what if my friends found out ? But as i learned about it the power of this thing became clear. The internet is out competing huge corporations -it’s shutting down retail giants like Sears, Walmart,
ToysRus, ….remember record stores? video stores like Blockbuster ? gone- Is it because people are not buying ? No- not at all -it is HOW they are buying that has and will continue to change.
look at the music and media distribution industry it has changed forever.
This TOOL is extremely powerful - recent events are showing us just how powerfully it can be used. A tool can be used for bad or good purposes by the user. Here is the selfish part i want the majority of users to be GOOD. Right now the leveling difference is that anybody and everybody has access and can learn how to use it. Will that change in the future? I don’t know. But I am guessing it will !
What i do know is when I am aware of a choice of power like this I opt for being the shepherd instead of one of the sheep.
Which do you want to be?
And Remember why you want to work this tool ?—It’s YOUR ART
When should you start using this tool?-Get in before it becomes difficult and
How soon do you want to be in control?
Here is a link to the folks that taught me, they provide a mentorship based on years of success. I found much appreciated candor, sincerity and continued support in Keala's program.
As always it is up to you ! I will be here to help if you need it.
Bob |
