Art is Something We Get to Do for Other People
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“It is better to follow your own path, however imperfectly, than to follow someone else’s perfectly.”
The Bhagavad-Gita
Artists aren’t special or rare. That’s an idea that blocks too many people from ever daring to think that they, too, could create art. Thus, they don’t, and the rest of us are deprived of their contribution.
Getting people to see — and feel — as though the world is waiting for their original contribution has been Seth Godin’s project for his entire career, and his book, The Practice, is his latest contribution to that effort.
In it, there are 122 short messages and ideas about creativity, art, and “leaping,” as Seth would say, that pretty much anybody — even if your job title isn’t specifically “artist” — would benefit from hearing. I know I did.
I’m only going to share a few of my favorites here today, but this will give you a general sense of whether or not you want to spend more time with Seth’s book.
The whole thing wouldn’t take long at all to read, but my notes below will stay with me for a lifetime.
“The Practice” is something that you get up and do every day, because you’re committed to forward progress, and because you want to see how good you can become. Art is something you DO, just as much as more than something you ARE.
I committed to that never-ending process years ago, and, while I’m nowhere near where I want to be, I’m a lot further ahead than I would have been without Godin and his books.
Every time I finish a new book, I write about it. The best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else, and so it’s my pleasure to bring you ideas that can make a measurable impact on your life, while also imprinting these ideas on my own mind at the same time.
My complete set of notes on all the 1,000+ books I’ve ever read can be found here, my full Reading List is here, and you can follow me on Medium, Instagram, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn if you want more recommendations like this one!
