“Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working”. Â Well said Pablo Picasso, very well said.
There is this panacea that every artist comes up with, at least two-hundred times during their artistic career. Â “I have no inspiration”. Â A perfect excuse for not creating. Â Wasting precious time to wait for that epiphany to come, that will make you the Master, the top of the top. Â Obviously, it is a trap.
Remember when we were faking headaches and stomachaches at school, to skip a class? I am afraid we cannot skip classes anymore.
When I was at the drama school, we had those classes about cinema. Â After class, I got to pass to my teacher (a great director Nikos Grammatikos) some script ideas of mine. Â He returned them to me, quite disappointed. Â I did that two or three times. Â The third time, it was about kamikazes getting on the train and setting it on fire.
He said:Â “Sarah, yes, okay, but why don’t you write about your parents?”
We get so consumed and overly exhausted by that “ism” of making the big difference. Â We end up pretending to be someone else, copying our influences…
So what’s the point?
Artists should be like athletes. Â Dedicated completely to their arts. Â Fully committed to their arts. Â It is like practicing a religion. Â It is quite spiritual. Â Every athlete who starts practicing for a big game, sets a goal. Â His goal is flashing in his head, during the whole process! Â He tries his best to get to the finish line. Â He will get there no matter what!
A few months ago, RÎ R was sweet and kind to lend me Steven Pressfield’s “The War of Art”. Â It was enlightening. Â I will always be thanking him for letting me read this book. Â I will always run back to those pages to get back on track, because it is really easy to get sidetracked and distracted by all the wrong things. Â So very easy.
Pressfield wisely claims that Art is a battlefield. Â A battlefield where all artists have been called to confront their own Resistance. Â Resistance, according to Pressfield, appears to have many different faces. Â In general, it has to do with everything that keeps us from doing what we’ve got to do. Â As if living our own life it is not art, anyways!
Artists most of the time act like spoiled kids. Â Overwhelmingly in need of attention or being flattered! Â They’re so very fragile and soft. Â We always want the best critiques, high rate reviews of our work and love and affection from the entire world. Â Waking up from this day dream can be harsh and discouraging.
I have been telling everyone (including myself) that we should do whatever we want to do as long as all this means something to us. Â We shouldn’t care about what others do think or say. Â We give our best, we give our soul. Â We open up. Â It makes us vulnerable, at the same time.
Thankfully, there is enough space for everyone to express themselves and to feel free to do that. Â Maybe there is too much free space, that makes us put on our lazy pants and wander around, indifferent to catch the spark of afflatus. Â What we do not understand is that afflatus might be walking by our side, but we have no way of sensing it.
From now on, I want to make this commitment:
I want whatever I write and perform to reflect myself. Â I want to be completely honest to the people I am addressing. Â I won’t hide from my own escape, which is creating. Â I want to dedicate myself to my arts and to fight against the rough sea. Â I will probably see no land, but I am happy to enjoy the journey. Â The adventure is what matters after all, isn’t it?
Thanks for reading me.
Find “The War Of Art” here.
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This post was written by Sarah P of Keep Shelly In Athens, as part of their Takeover of Indie Music Filter. Find the duo online or Sarah on twitter.