This post is dedicated to every single artist that exists in the world today. To every creative person, every entrepreneur, everyone who creates something out of nothing and needs an audience.
I came across a video essay created by Adam Westbrook on the creative process. I think that this is a brilliant essay that tackles two very important things:
The Importance of Practice & Patience:
The era that we live in and the technology that surrounds us has created this impression that success is there for the taking, anyone who can create something interesting, can get rich and famous really quickly. This has led to many people creating stuff and expecting it go become viral and hence making them rich and famous.
Not many people have the patience and are willing to grind it out, even when there is no audience, specially, when there is no audience.
This is my 402nd blog post on this blog. I know that when I started this blog, there were days when the blog did not even clock a single view in a week. I could have stopped then.
Even after 401 blog post, this blog does not boast of a big audience, certainly not as many as some of the internet celebrities boast of.
Now, is my content equally good, may be, may be not.
Am I proud of what I have created? Definitely.
Have I delivered value to the small group of people who visit this page and read what I have written? I definitely think so.
Will I ever get the kind of following or readership that some of these celebrities get? Maybe, one day, I just might. Maybe, one day, I might surpass them all. Maybe.
But, that day will never come if I just dream about it. So, in order to make that happen, I need to practice. So, I write post after post and hone my skill.
Has my writing skills improved? Definitely.
Has the quality of my content improved? Definitely.
My friends, colleagues and well wishers continue to ask my what do I get out of spending so much time, effort and money on this blog. My answer to them all is that I love writing on this blog – not because this will make me famous or rich, but because I love sharing my experience and in doing so, am able to internalise my learnings and improve my ability to articulate things.
As Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talks about in his seminal book – Flow , maybe I have an Autotelic personality.
I love writing on this blog for the love of writing and the joy and skill it gives me.
Over the past 4 years, ,my audience has grown steadily. From no page views in a week, we now get 50-70 views a day. Even now, somedays, we dont get more than 20 views.
I think that is still fine with me.
I am willing to be patient as I am loving the work that i am putting in.
I have had people write to me that they liked and learnt from my blogs. That is good enough for me to continue to write here.
I will continue to practice and stay patient.
What about you? Have you given up your pursuit just because you didn’t have an audience for your first work of genius?
If you are a creative artist and want to make great art, this post is dedicated to you.
Watch the following video essay and remember the virtue of practice and patience.
Our time will come, when we are ready for it. Till then, practice your art and the art of being patient.
Enjoy the videos:
The Long Game Part 1: Why Leonardo DaVinci was once a loser from Delve on Vimeo.
The Long Game Part 2: the missing chapter from Delve on Vimeo.
The Long Game Part 3: Painting in the Dark from Delve on Vimeo.
Hope you liked the series.
A special thanks to Adam Westbrook and his supporters on Patreon for making this amazing piece of art.
