The world is a messy, ugly place. Nature is cruel and unforgiving. Truly, there is no escape from brutality if you look for it, especially today. Yes, there is evil in the world and those that seek to do unspeakable harm. Most believe in their righteousness and generosity before they speak of their inhumanity. None of us want to believe the toll we can exact in the name of purpose. And yet.
The world is also glorious, nature is majestic and the triumph of the human spirit is ever indelible. More than five thousand years ago we began working with glass. The rest is history. Think about what we as a human collective have done with a grain of sand. Microscopes, telescopes, computers, fiber optics, and on and on and on.
Humanity is singularly frail and immense. Humility and hubris are both hard to come by and deeply profound if we choose to go there. The righteous path never is until you recognize its vanity.
We are all exhausted and mobilized at once. The real question is will we take the time to contemplate change. There will be another side and the future will present itself to us as she does. Now is the opportunity to shape the effort with resilience and the power of consistent effort. It is also the time when the pain becomes exquisite.
Simultaneously, we are working towards tomorrow and find ourselves deeper in the morass. The triumph of spirit is required and it will not be enough. We will have to undo generations of indoctrination to rebuild something that honors the contributions we all can make.
However, nobody can really listen when the noise is deafening. The longer the noise, the more likely we shut down and simply stop. I believe we are getting there with so many creative endeavors. Summer is here and people are thirsty for some sort of stability. Do not for a second think that I want any of the momentum to stop or for any progress made to fade away. I am only saying that there is real fatigue and that with no rest, the margins will fray. Call it burn out, fatigue, ennui, whatever you want, just do not dismiss it.
This is where you will be tested as a creative business like no other. Perhaps you have made headway in redefining your art in the context of coronavirus and the seismic (hopefully permanent) shifts in our culture. But the phone has gone quiet. Or even more, you are realizing that 2020 is mostly gone and you are yet to endure another lost season this Fall. FYI, the New York City Marathon was just cancelled today. It is held in November. Sorry to say that you have inured yourself to pain only to know that there will be more to get through. The old Churchill line, “If you are going through hell, keep going.”
You are left with a choice then, shine a brighter, more focused flashlight or go buy a spotlight. The thing about spotlights, if everyone has one, the room becomes so bright that no-one can see anything. And make no mistake, the inclination of all of us is to find a spotlight. We need to change that. Being the shiniest penny is fruitless when you need a dollar. Meaning, deep, unabiding meaning to the very purpose of what you seek to share requires contemplation, study, practice and experience. Even if no-one is at your door today, keep going so that when they show up (and they will), they will experience the best of you because you have kept going.
It is all about emotional resonance. Think about it. We all know when an artist gets lost in emotion or does not go far enough. Too far and the singer literally cannot sing, not far enough and it will be technically fine but forgettable. The point is that what is required of you, your art and your creative business today is a wholesale recalibration of what emotional resonance means and how to communicate your ability to understand and shift to clients, employees and colleagues alike. It is exposing, raw and fraught with uncertainty. Do it anyway, even if it feels like you are in a vacuum. Just because people hit pause does not mean they do not want to listen. Not now is not never. Remember, your responsibility is to do the work, to start the conversation, to stand ready to be ever present to opportunity. It is not and never will be anyone else’s. Yes, you are going through hell, keep going.
