The New Normal
Had a good talk earlier with
John Barney, an artist that got me really thinking about the business side of things since I jumped on the Long Beach scene. We spoke quite a bit about art in these crazy times and what the future holds. Good information was exchanged.
I had a realization though...
There may be a miscommunication in what I was putting out there.
While I believe that this is a great time to do new things with numerous possibilities for good returns, there are a lot of people that seem to have thought that I was standing around acting like everything is going to be okay.
So I think I should clarify...
The world is WILDLY different now.
Things are ROUGH.
I get that.
I do not believe that things are peachy, that things will just return to normal, that things will magically work out, or that people will just give artists/developers money because we're nice people. The business of life just doesn't give a damn.
That being said...I had to ask myself:
What do I want?
Who am I going to be?
Well, to me, there are two, non-mutually exclusive options:
- Allow good energy flow in familiar directions
- Allow good energy flow in new directions
(Implicit in the flow mandate is that one will need to let go of resistance that's holding back the flow.)
Because you can always make choices to adjust yourself into a better direction.
Recently, I realized that Instagram was causing me low levels of anxiety. I had to change how I utilized the platform. I can't browse it the same way I used to and have removed a lot of the content that I posted before. There are other strategies that I have employed for it and other outlets (like this newsletter). These strategies are geared towards a better tomorrow.
The environment has undeniably changed on a global scale. Continued activity will likely require tapping into unfamiliar energies (aka thinking outside of the box). There are some cases where you might luck out -- maybe you happen to own a hand sanitizer business. But more likely, you won't be able to coast on this new energy paradigm. That means you will have to realign yourself, maybe in radical ways.
What adjustments make sense in your slice of the universe? That's something you will have to answer for yourself. Will you play the violin while the Titanic is sinking? Maybe that's not the best strategy for you. But maybe that does work for you for some reason. (Note: I just learned from Wikipedia that "712 people survived the sinking of the Titanic out of 2,207".)
In any situation, it is on you to adjust.
Everything is not going to magically be okay.
That's not realistic.
BUT.
Things can work out well for any of us.
I absolutely believe this.
In times of change, there are new opportunities that may not have made sense before. You have to adapt yourself to the situation. For example, who would have thought that sewing, cooking, or being able to exist indoors would be as beneficial as it is right now?
As a creator, it is my job to continue to create. Accepting that statement yields more complex questions, though: What to create? What to enact? Where to go? Who to call? What to let go of? Things are uncertain, so there aren't clear answers. Our visible options may not seem ideal, but they are options, nonetheless. Options allow us to keep energy flowing.
Somewhere in-between the visible extremes that probably aren't a good fit, there are options that will work for you. Right now, it's your job to access those options.
This goes for me as well. I'm currently finding my way through things and have decided to start a podcast that has no clear-cut path to prosperity. I have a strategy, but I'm still finding my way though it all. Will this time around help me to actually move the needle in my direction? I think it could, so I'm doing it.
Since I don't own a hand sanitizer company, I'm not able to kick back and relax. But that's okay. Things are what they are and life transpires. I plan to . I don't expect you to either. So keep doing positive work, and we can synergize with each other's creativity.
Let me know how you are feeling.
We can do this.
