The old school way of making a decision by jotting down pros and cons still works. (Another great exercise to do in tandem is “fear setting” which Tim Ferris explains here.)
But it’s not just the number on each side that wins the day.
It’s how powerful and meaningful they are to you.
A single meaningful pro can outweigh a dozen less significant cons.
For if that lone pro is connected to a strong enough why, the decision to proceed will always be a good one. In the long run, anyway.
Gradual bud and bloom and seedfall speeded up
are these mute explosions in slow motion.
From vertical shoots above the sea, the fire
flowers open, shedding their petals. Black waves,
turned more than moonwhite, pink ice, lightning blue,
echo our gasps of admiration as they crash
and hush. Another bush ablaze snicks straight up.
A gap like heartstop between the last vanished
particle and the thuggish boom. And the thuggish
boom repeats in stutters from sandhill hollows
in the shore. We want more. A twirling sun,
or dismembered chrysanthemum bulleted up, leisurely
bursts, in an instant timestreak is suckswooped
back to its core. And we want more: red giant,
white dwarf, black hole dense, invisible, all in one. -(May Swenson, “July 4th”)
Even the most amazing fireworks you’ve ever seen in your life replete with dizzying arrays of light and sound and M-80 sonic boom that command every second of your attention and imagination,
will pass
and become a distant memory.
Forgotten by you
and everyone else who was there to witness and celebrate.
Go make you art. Not because you want to be remembered. But because in that exact moment in time, you loved something so much that you just had to make it and share it with all of us.
“Free, free, set them free.” -Sting
Having trouble deciding? Saying no to something? Don’t want to disappoint or let someone down? Got a serious case of FOMO?
Just remember…
It’s not “No” forever.
It’s just “No” for right now.
If it’s meant to be, it’ll come back around.
Trust in that. Decide. Go forward. Move on.
(Also remember, most decisions can be reversed or changed pretty quickly.)
Today marks the halfway point of 2021 and a fresh start for the second half. Or for you fellow golfers, “Welcome To The Back Nine.”
What goal or project do you want to start or finish before the year expires? For the next three months?
As discussed in this prior post, you can divide the year into four quarters, almost like your own personal report card or basketball game. (Congrats to the Phoenix Suns and Chris Paul by the way for making it to the NBA Finals. I’m a diehard Laker fan but gotta give props to CP3.)
The author Gretchen Rubin takes it one step further. She advises breaking up each day into four quarters. She writes:
“Instead of feeling that you’ve blown the day and thinking, “I’ll get back on track tomorrow,” try thinking of each day as a set of four quarters: morning, midday, afternoon, evening. If you blow one quarter, you get back on track for the next quarter…Fail small, not big.”
Fantastic advice!
So go forward. Make a ruckus. Be energized with this “fresh start.” Good luck on your second half, your third quarter, your next month, your next week, your next day, and your next quarter day! I’m rooting for you big time.
P.S. – Today also marks the 18 month anniversary of The Vs. Studio Blog. Nearly 400 posts and no missed weekdays since inception. Thank you everyone for reading, for commenting, for encouraging and for caring. Hope this blog has provided a little daily boost of inspiration and perspective on your artistic journey. I promise to continue showing up each day and give you my best.
You don’t always have to be in “maker” mode.
Sometimes, just curating the best of what others have made is where you’re called.
If this is you right now, answer the call. And just like if you made it yourself, curate with excellence and generosity.
Is the reason you make it free or charge very little that you don’t want to be held accountable? That deep down, you don’t really believe in your product or service or offering? Or worse, you don’t believe in yourself?
Like most things, price and money are just stories we tell ourselves. If you want to charge more, first tell yourself a different story. Then tell others.
It’s one thing to set a goal, work hard at achieving it and along the way you see incremental progress. That progress signals you’re on the right track. Your efforts are working, which inspires you to keep going. It’s why losing weight and accumulating wealth are among the dominant topics in personal development. You see the pounds on the scale, the dollars in the bank account. Just like functions in mathematics, for every input of effort, there is a measurable output. Do “X”, get “Y.”
It’s an entirely different thing when you have no idea if the steps you’re taking are actually working. Artists can toil away for years, for decades, without seeing any tangible progress or fruits for their efforts. Monetarily speaking, it will probably never work out.
Jack Lemmon (my all-time favorite actor) was once asked how he knew to stay the course during all his lean acting years.
His response…
“Blind Faith.”
Last night I dreamed that I was a child
Out where the pines grow wild and tall
I was trying to make it home through the forest
Before the darkness falls
I heard the wind rustling through the trees
And ghostly voices rose from the fields
I ran with my heart pounding down that broken path
With the devil snapping at my heels
I broke through the trees and there in the night
My father’s house stood shining hard and bright
The branches and brambles tore my clothes and scratched my arms
But I ran till I fell shaking in his arms
I awoke and I imagined the hard things that pulled us apart
Will never again, sir, tear us from each other’s hearts
I got dressed and to that house I did ride
From out on the road I could see its windows shining in light
I walked up the steps and stood on the porch
A woman I didn’t recognize came and spoke to me through a chained door
I told her my story and who I’d come for
She said “I’m sorry son but no one by that name lives here anymore”
My father’s house shines hard and bright
It stands like a beacon calling me in the night
Calling and calling so cold and alone
Shining ‘cross this dark highway where our sins lie unatoned–“My Father’s House” by Bruce Springsteen
When’s the last time you put on a favorite album and just listened to it straight through? Without any distractions. Without multitasking. Just giving yourself completely over to the music and the lyrics. Almost like a meditation.
Give it a shot. Especially late at night right before bed.
Try and make it a regular part of your art appreciation practice. You’ll be glad you did.
Naiveté allows you to make your art against all odds and opposition and to stand behind it and be proud.
Humility allows you to look back someday on what you’ve made and cringe because you know how much better it could be.
You need equal measures of both.
Generally speaking, you can’t afford to buy a house without having money for a down payment.
The same holds true if you want to produce a play.
According to TCG’s latest “Theatre Facts” study, intimate theatres (those with budgets less than $500,000) earned less than 50% of their income from individual ticket sales.
That means you have to fundraise AHEAD OF TIME in order to make up the difference.
Otherwise, you’re not ready to produce it.
The Vs. Studio Blog