Talent only exists to allow you to see and/or do what others naturally cannot as easily as you can. Unnurtured talent is an oxymoron. Talent only exists as a platform to find wisdom that will, in turn, encourage the limits of talent to expand. Experience is never just the passage of time, it is the recognition of the stage you belong. Talent, wisdom and experience are interwoven inextricably only through humility and uncertainty of possibility. There is simply no there there only the promise that you will be better today than you were yesterday. Better is not measurable it is an endeavor, the willingness to go further, to live in what will be uncertain with the notion that the discovery will benefit everyone. And that benefit is hope and hopefulness all at once.
The reality is that so many creative business owners use talent, wisdom and experience to sell certainty. “Trust me, I know what I am doing and it will be awesome.” Maybe. The irony though is that the promise is uncertainty. “With confidence we will get to ten, but you have paid me for eleven. Life is lived between ten and eleven and that is where will go.” Think about that when you are in your next sales pitch. Are you getting to yes or are you getting to lets go? Yes is fabulous for toothpaste, soul sucking for those who seek to create art.
No doubt, you gave yourself permission to be an artist so much so that you decided you could make a living at it. The issue is that you arrived untethered. Even the very best of us needs to learn how to put our feet on the ground before we can move with intention to where we seek to go. Having a purpose is not working with purpose, even perspective. Having a purpose is faith that what you are doing matters. Working with purpose is the fortitude you need to manifest your faith.
Your ability to be good at the game, your talent as an artist, can carry the day, serve you past innumerable obstacles than those who do not have your talent will succumb to. There is a limit though, a place where nuance and wisdom and experience and integrity matter more than talent. This is the place of true learning, where you have to say that we do it this way because and that way is entirely unshakeable. And if you do not yet know the difference between unshakeable and inflexible, you have more work to do.
Unshakeable means a deep understanding of why you, your art and your creative business travel the path you do. Every moment, every conversation, every text, email, call, is done with purpose because it is the very manifestation of the philosophy, the faith, you espouse. Inflexible is like the parent who tells their children not to fight with each other or else they will get a spanking. Inflexibility means for clients to follow your rules simply because you said so or, worse, because that is just the way it is done. Good luck with that.
The issue is that inflexibility is the providence of those looking for the shortcut, to excuse the responsibility that your business needs to be as creative as your art. The responsibility for creativity exists because both your art and your business tell your story. One without the other implodes the rest. Conviction and faith go hand in hand with your need to be a profound storyteller to realize the success you seek.
Own the power of your talent, wisdom and experience with resilience and intention and always faith. The purpose is to be a beacon of hope in the pursuit of joy. It is and will always be your calling. Live there.
