Stereotype-O Negative
& other last second thoughts because I had to do this around work & this is not my full-time job yet
Most people have this stereotype of the “starving artist”. You might identify them if they show up to your house in a jalopy, and at the end of the day you find yourself buying them drinks while handing them a check to cover their rent (they wouldn’t be starving if they were people were a little more open to paying them, but that’s an old discussion for another day). They struggle, scrap, and scrape in hopes that the years spent on honing their craft will make those same years couch surfing rewarding. ‘Hope’ being the keyword, as unfortunately success doesn’t cross every artist’s path. Many times it seems unjust because there are many talented artists that fall by the wayside, whereas much less talented artists seem to find fortune. Oftentimes nepotism is the cause of those injustices and it is endemic to creative fields, but the carnage left behind by the art business is largely due to the fact that it is still one of the last remaining meritocracies. It’s difficult to cut corners and get away with it.
The flightiness of the artist is a stereotype that sticks like glue (No I’m not complaining about stereotypes. If I were I’d be rich working for The Washington Post). The artist nurses his jalopy to the driveway of his run-down shoebox apartment. His desk showcasing the disorganization and chaos of the rest of his living space, littered with papers, notes, and equipment to tinker with. He lets his responsibilities slip past him. His mind is out with the fairies, manifesting itself in the form of social faux pas and quirk, but that broody energy leads to promiscuity and recklessness. Is this picture painted enough for you?
Many people will look at the artist and think their brain has either been fried by LSD, their childhood was Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, or there’s some immutable characteristic to influence their personality. On the surface the artist appears to have lots of idle time, where it’s a bi-polar roller coaster of manic fun and absolute boredom, but the real dragon the artist is endlessly chasing is inspiration.
The misconception of inspiration is ironically promulgated by many artists themselves. The movies and television shows you watch will tell you inspiration falls into your lap from the heavens, slowly descending in a divine glow accompanied by angelic choruses filling the air. You can just sit on your couch with your mind barely pulsing with electricity, and the million dollar movie script or painting appears like an unwanted pop-up ad. As wonderful as that circumstance would be, it is a rare occurrence if it ever happens at all. It’s more like Indiana Jones having to traipse through the temple of doom to grab the shiny rock before a Hare Krishna rips your beating heart out of your chest. Inspiration takes work even though it may look like you’re not doing work. It’s why many artists attempt to fill their time with whatever the activity may be, or find a muse when that was less me-tooey.
Inspiration doesn’t just happen because you’re doing nothing. It happens because your mind is in the quiet in the nothing and actively thinking. Frequently you find useless hobbies and rituals are created by the artist in an attempt to spark an ember of inspiration. Some days it’s just not happening, and you have no choice but to rub those two sticks together in a desperate attempt to create fire. If inspiration were that easy, a creative person wouldn’t have the cliche of failing to hold a job. If ease were the case, filling out spreadsheets or going to medical school would hold an anodyne effect rather than be perceived as an obstacle.
While the artist may appear to be chasing butterflies, what they’re really chasing is the inspiration for the next slice of beauty to serve to the audience. The time to do nothing to do something, the first part being the utopian ideal for everyone and one of the great selling points of the art industries. Even more so when you’re a kid thinking you can get paid to have fun. However, the fun isn’t usually fun for the artist. It’s work. It never ends. Inspiration is around every corner. You just have to look for it.