*Typing*

Creativity is a practice in faith. You must believe in something that doesn't yet exist in the hopes that it one day will.

People are constantly working to shrink the world. Some do this shrinking consciously. But, most of us do it subconsciously. Shrinking provides us with a sense of comfort because it makes the world more manageable. We don't choose a country to inhabit but instead a neighborhood within a city within a country. We shrink this neighborhood even further by choosing a place to call home. Of the nearly 8 billion people on Earth, we choose 80 to call acquaintances and perhaps 8 to call close friends. We think we crave more. But, "more" often comes with a cost. We are experiencing this firsthand as the devices in our pockets are allowing us to touch every corner of the world with our fingertips. Yet, we are left feeling isolated and overwhelmed. What we are truly after is depth, value and quality. This is why we shrink.

Never be precious about your art. Be precious about it getting done. But, treat it like a job. Show up. Shut up. Put up. Then, get some rest and do it all again the next day. Leonard Cohen had a hell of a line. I was always working steady but I never called it art. I love art. I love both the word and what the word stands for. What I don't love is how folks treat it. Art is no different than a cabinet that needs building, a floor that needs laying, a wall that needs painting or a toilet that needs scrubbing. It's a job. A damn good job. But, a job nonetheless. If you can see your art as a job that needs to be done and if you can take this responsibility seriously, you can build a vocation for yourself that you yourself respect. Fuck the accolades. Fuck the applause. Fuck the audience. None of that shit matters. I know you think it matters because a lot of days I think it matters too. But, no amount of external validation will ever rival that feeling––that hallowed feeling––of having sacrificed a part of your life creating something that previously didn't exist. It's like sitting beside God in a pair of shitty lawn chairs, sharing a smoke, reaching in the cheap plastic cooler wedged between you, admiring the home you just built. It's like fucking the love of your life in a motel room as an invading army marches the streets. Art is the best job you will ever have. You just have to treat it as such.

Most creative individuals working today are both the talent and the agent.

Previously, this hasn't been the case. These two roles were once entirely separate; and for good reason. It's very difficult to be both a creative person and a business person at the same time. They call upon separate parts of the brain. I'm not a neuroscientist. But, to make my point, attempt to read and answer email at the same time. It's impossible. While reading isn't necessarily an act of creation, it demands the same level of attention.

David Bowie was notorious for negotiating his own deals. After buying back the rights to his music in 1997 in a clever maneuver that involved issuing "Bowie Bonds", he became increasingly more involved in the business side of his art.

Writers, artists and creatives look down upon agents, entrepreneurs and salesmen, seeing it as a lowly profession. However, if they hope to make a living––and perhaps even a killing––in their vocation, they really should be studying these money-minded individuals. If they can become their own agent, they will earn an additional 20% - 50% on everything they do because they won't be paying out a commission.

Solutions bloom from two trees. We will separate these trees as "Western" and "Eastern". Western thinking says that if we throw ourselves at a problem and expend all of our energy on that problem, a solution will appear. It's essentially overwhelming a problem until it is no longer a problem. Eastern thinking says that if we remain calm and centered about a problem, and create space between ourselves and that problem, a solution will appear. One is a cowboy's approach while the other is a Buddhist monk's. Wisdom is recognizing that both trees bear fruit. There are moments in life that call for tenacity and moments that call for patience.