The Artist's Journey

The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not.  He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation.

- Stephen Pressfield

Not really a comforting thought.

Yet...

While the life of the artist is filled with heartache and difficulty, the alternative life of ignoring your passions and serving the "supposed to" is simply unlivable.

Your pursuit of living the artist within you will take you to the end of yourself.  This journey will strip away the things that make living the artist's life impossible: the need for conformity, approval, and a 'fan club'.  And this is percisely the journey you need to take; it is a shedding of an old self.

It's time to get lean, get resourceful, and discover who you truly are.

Journey on.

The Migrating Artist

“We migrate, too.  We follow the Muse instead of the sun.  When one crop is picked, we hit the road and move on the next.”

-         Stephen Pressfield

Whether it is a new idea or endeavor, the artist frequently moves from one thing to the next.  The continual movement of the artist looks erratic, impulsive and poorly planned. 

Perhaps it is.

Yet the artist also knows that staying too long is impossible.  Just as soil cannot sustain the same crops through all seasons, inspiration cannot be mined without end at one local.  If the artist stays too long (past the point of insightful discovery) they find themselves in a sparse land.  Fruit no longer bearing.

When the place we have dwelt (physically, emotionally, or spiritually) no longer offers any creative edge in which we, the artist can dance, it becomes time to journey on.

Moving with the Muse takes courage.  It takes a deep level of self-awareness and a high inner-understanding to know when it’s time to dig deeper and when it’s time to pack up.  This discernment is not an easy task and it takes risk.  If the artist digs deeper and there is nothing discovered, the only thing excavated is their own insanity.  And if the artist moves on before it was time, then unfinished business becomes their new companion.

The complex nature of the migrating artist is not something to fear or something that can be easily distilled into simple terms.  Rather, it is to be seen as what is.  Migrating, wondering, and discovering are what it means to follow the Muse.

What an incredible journey before us.