What does the motor industrialist with bitesize, tweetable quotes about leadership and customer experience have to do with our creative liefstyles? Here are a few words from the man himself and then some words from myself on how Henry Ford's life lessons can help us to think about our own work ethic and lifestyle as artists.
Let me know if you find any of them helpful. ‘Quality means doing it right when no one is looking’. Being an artist with integrity means calling yourself an artist and then creating work which reflects who you are and what you are about. It can be so hard not to compare ourselves, then letting that lead to creating work because we know 'This' is more likely to be shared online or even, to create work that you know is not your best, because you feel pressured to get new content out there (and we all feel that pressure occasionally). However, are you so dedicated to doing what you do and doing it well that it doesn’t matter if anyone sees it or not? If you’re not going to at least make it good, then why are you doing it? This isn't about perfection, but making sure that it is your best work. We all have down days creatively, but check back over your recent project(s) occasionally, asking yourself 'Was this a true reflection of my vision as an artist?'. Don't worry yourself too much if it isn't. One of the beauties of creativity is that it is a constant flow and you have future opportunities to make more work, that reflects your artistic vision, again and again.
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A professional Director and performer once advised me not to include amateur dramatics on my Actor’s CV.
I followed his advice and deleted it, although a little mournfully. I still take part in amateur dramatics. Currently I’m the Evil Witch in Sleeping Beauty and I am learning throughout the process and I am giving the best performances I can give. Yet you can understand why it may not be appropriate to include my amateur experience on a CV for a professional job. We’ve all experienced someone not yet ready for the stage yet determined to be on it anyway, then we know why Hamlet said: One of the scariest things about theatre is claiming that your thoughts have merit: that they are of worth and worth knowing for that brief moment. The sort of saying that what you said is of such value that after sharing it people should partake by either witnessing or even at its most horrific: engaging with it.
Such a fear I have of cultivating pride that I have developed an acute inferiority to my own creativity and the power I think that I can possess. I feel so small and insignificant which is a dangerous thought for any human being to have, because it is an infectious disease that targets your most wonderful qualities and skills, for example your creativity. Its symptoms include paralysis – either of the mind, thus stopping you from imagining in the first place, normally through fear – or paralysis of the will so that once you have created something from your inner parts you can never bring yourself to share it with anyone…Sometimes not even yourself for fear of indulgence. I have discovered that although I will always be small physically, I am not a small person because we were each created ourselves to have a unique presence. And which we all do. That alone is captivating and I can spend all day enjoying the beauty of other people’s presences. However my being does not stop there. Why would one consider their creations to always be relevant to their beings instead of two separate entities? |
“Those who are lost in their passion are less lost than those who have lost their passion.” Archives
February 2021
“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Clare Louise RobertsSinger Songwriter, Actress, Poet and all round Creative, passionate about sharing, ideas, collaboration and seeing other people develop their skills and passions. It could be you...Will you be the author of the next blog post?. Click here to find out more! Categories
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