“ART IS WHAT YOU CALL
the thing an artist does.
It’s not the medium or the oil or the price or whether it hangs on a wall or you eat it.
What matters, what makes it art, is that the person who made it overcame the resistance, ignored the voice of doubt and made something worth making. Something risky. Something human.
Art is not in the eye of the beholder. It’s in the soul of the artist.”
Seth Godin, Author of THE LINCHPIN Are you Indispensable? and a dozen other best-sellers.
I’ve been reading Seth Godin’s blog and books for awhile and so I was quite happy to meet him in person last year. I asked him to sign THE LINCHPIN, his latest book release, to Drew for me.
When he signed it, I realized just how brilliant he really is; he wrote:
“To Drew, listen to what Maria says.” He’s incredibly insightful.
I’ve reprinted Seth’s blog post above because it speaks to me LOUD & CLEAR.
There are so many important projects that I want to complete – write books, e-book series, teach classes, speak at colleges, produce my own tv show, etc.
And it’s scary because I’m going to suck at it the first time I do anything. It’s hard. And who the hell am I to think that I can do big, important things?!
I just got my own tv show on the air, and you would think I’d be over the moon happy.
But I worry that it’s just not wonderful and perfect. It needs to be sharper, move faster, suck the audience in a like Dyson Vacuum Cleaner.
And I’m scared that “they’re all gonna laugh at me!”
I keep reminding myself, though – this tv show is my art. I can’t draw or paint. But I create in my own God-given ways.
And the only way to get good at anything is to keep doing it. Each episode will be better than the one before.
I need to continue creating my own kind of “art”.
Get past the voices in my head that say “you’re not good enough.” And “people will criticize.”
Seth Godin’s writing’s drill this point over and over again.
One day he’ll brainwash me just enough that I’ll stop giving into what he calls “the resistance” and continue to do what he encourages: “shipping”.
And I encourage all of you, too:
Kill the resistance. Create your own form of art. Ignore the voices of doubt. And put your art out into the world.
Tell me, in the comments below, what is the resistance holding you back from? What big project or dream have you not yet started, for fear of not being perfect at it? Let us help break the walls down for you….
Maria xxoo
PS: Click on Seth’s Head Above and you’ll be taken to his blog. Sign up for his daily bits of wisdom. It’s a great read first thing each morning!
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