Blog#150- 3/12/23
THE REWARD IS IN THE DOING
By Richard Davis
When I listen to one of the many talented musicians who live in our little corner of the world in southern Vermont it makes me realize that there is very little difference between them and others who are more well known to the world. I often wonder how fame and fortune, especially in the arts, figure into the overall scheme of things.
I suspect that many of us want to be recognized for the talents we have, whether they be in music, art, writing or any creative field. But some people decide, early in their lives, that they want to put the effort into not only their art but into the pursuit of fame. It requires a special kind of dedication and it is something that most of us will decide not worth doing.
When you think about people like Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Hemingway and Bellow, Andrew Wyeth and even Woody Allen you are aware of the many marks they have left on the world. Most of them, and others operating at their level, did not just happen to be discovered by the star-makers and then suddenly become household words.
I think you would probably find the stories of those people include a persistent effort at self-promotion and a healthy ego that supported those efforts. Luck has something to do with it, but most of the people who become famous made a decision early in their professional lives that they had something special to offer to the world and they wanted to play the game that put them into the largest arena possible.
That kind of drive is not for everyone. It is almost as if a musician, writer or artist is willing to pursue two parallel careers. One is that of feeding their talent and making it grow and the other is that of marketing and self-promotion.
Of course nothing is black and white in the arts and there are varying levels of recognition. Most artists are realistic enough to realize that they will never be rich or famous and that if they want to live off of their talent they have to work hard just to pay the bills. Many can operate on that level, but most cannot and they have to have secondary jobs that pay the bills.
It is those who operate on these lower levels that interest me. The more you look at, read or listen to their work the more you realize that their talent may often be equal to that of the famous people. Sure, there will always be the geniuses who soar high above everyone else and they need to be broadly appreciated because what they do enriches the lives of all of us.
But geniuses are rare and the non-geniuses among us have to work a lot harder for any level of recognition. In the end, what the lesser known artists come to understand is that they have to learn to be satisfied as long as they can live up to their own standards and continually work to cultivate their talent.
The reward is in the doing.
Trying to be a recognized writer is one of those areas that requires a ridiculous amount of non-writing effort to get published. I have come to realize that talent and quality of writing have little to do with whether or not a writer is published. Writers are at the mercy of the profit motive of publishers and people who think they know what the reading world wants.
I have always felt the need to cultivate my writing and I have no respect for most of the establishment of the commercial writing world. There are many excellent writers who will never get published and that is part of the reason why self-publishing has a fair degree of popularity.
So musicians, artists, writers and everyone with a talent keep on doing what you do and learn to tell those who would be your critics to **** off. Learn to be content with what you have.
