Artists Passion

How does accepting that not all who are encouraged and touched by our work will be able to purchase it?

And how does satisfaction with or belief in reciprocity of blessings, or karma regarding our work, assist us in shamelessly asking individuals to buy our works of art?

Can knowing or discovering that my writing truly moves readers who may or may not purchase my book provide me the strength to overcome my fears of asking when the answer may be, “No?�

If my writing has moved someone, it has moved me. The two go hand-in-hand. Bland writing, however grammatically correct, but that does nothing for my soul, will not affect any one else’s. It’s just that simple. In most cases it will never get written, due to the lack of my interest in seeing it through, never mind making it into print.

Thus if a work of art has reached the level of print, whether by my own means as in self-publishing or due to the resources of a traditional publisher or art agent, or music company, I can trust it has moved someone—me. Why then, am I/ are we so hesitant to promote ourselves and out work with fervor and desire?

Could it be that we don’t believe in ourselves? Or are we more comfortable with failure than success? Do we fear how success will change our identity of ourselves? Or are we afraid of all of the above?

Every time we as artists participate in shameless self-promotion, what I call exhibiting a display of self-confidence—healthy grandiosity—we are saying, �Yes,� to what the Creator or the Universe has shepherded, channeled if you will, through us. The process through which the work of art is manifested has rendered us, you and me, anew.

Publicity and self-promotion share a reciprocal relationship with the act of creating a work of art. The latter sets the stage for the former, both constituting an overall process of rebirth. To remain stuck in the repetition of creating without mounting a formidable supply of energy to usher your work into the world is like giving birth to a child that one hides from all. The child doesn’t grow, is stunted. Those who learn of the parent’s acts judge harshly, her or him, guilty of abuse.

In the artist’s case, the artist who has sought and received the commercial recognition of acquiring an agent, publisher, etc. to usher the sale of the artist’s work, the artist has not only made a commitment to their agent, but more so to themselves. They have promised to do all possible to make as many people aware of their work and gain consumers and the like. To embark upon the journey of turning one’s artistry into a business, one that involves the artists doing what she or he most love, and then abandon this process of mounting publicity through self-promotion, is the highest form of self-sabotage in which one can engage.

It is a re-infliction of the same wound out which the artist most likely performs her or his work in an effort to heal. To hold that work back from the world through the subtle form of neglecting and avoiding self promotion out of fear is a most certain way to destroy one’s own spirit and deplete the artist—you, me, us—of the much needed energy required to continue engaging in performing our artistry.

As artists we must cease cutting ourselves short, giving our work quick shrift. We must respect our work and ourselves, which means loving and believing in ourselves, our creations in our missions with such fervor that we move with and beyond our fears into the land, the act–the process of shameless self-promotion. While we risk rejection in so doing, we also avail ourselves, our lives, to the possibilities, the probabilities of self-discovery—the birth of a new child within, one who has our love from the beginning, and without conditions of the need for success.

To actively participate in the promotion of our own works makes us subject to the healing power of our artistry. It allows us to experience and enjoy what those who support us love and feel when engaging with our work—with us. Devoting our energies to shameless self-promotion allows us to become the painting, so to speak, and creation of our own artistry—the true subjects of our work.