Seven Blows

Well, I've hit a new record.  Seven rejection notices within 24 hours.  Seven in one.  I feel like the brave little tailor...  But I know I can't let it get to me.  It's not personal.  One show had over 1500 entries, and it's not even at a major institution.  Less than 5% got in.  That has little to do with me at all, just that my work didn't make the cut like a whole lot of other people's.

I'm posting this in part to offset the view that this comes easy because it doesn't.  It takes work and effort and a willingness to put myself out there.  The way I see it, if I don't take chances then I won't get anywhere.  Even if the only place I get to is to fall on my face.  I don't want to just do what's comfortable and seek out only opportunities that feel safe or secure because I want to grow and evolve and try for bigger things.

The world is really accessible right now and there is a lot available and going on, but with so much creativity and so many talented people out there it is even less likely that success will come to us as artists.  We can't sit around and wait to be discovered because we won't.

So this shows that I'm trying and that I'm pushing myself for bigger and better things.  I encourage you to do the same and push your own boundaries, step out of your comfort zone and reach for the stars.  We won't get there if we don't try.

On a related note, Chuck & I were discussing creativity recently.  Sir Ken Robinson in a June 2006 TED talk stated that "if you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original."  I had never thought about it, but that makes a lot of sense.  If we feel we don't have anything to lose, we'll be able to release inhibitions.  We have to be willing to try, to take chances, and to put ourselves out there, for better and for worse.