Sunday, May 15, 2016

The Value of Passion

Disappointment, discouragement, disgust. Three words every creative individual must certainly feel at times, especially when their ambitions and desires don't come to fruition as soon as they would like. Such predicaments must beg the question: What does it take? What is the absolute key mainstay in achieving all one could ever hope for? I have seen the so called resolution promoted in general media, on the pages of self-help gurus, alternative religious texts, and so on but the truth is, for me, that society's answers generate just as much confusion as the question itself. Is the answer just plain old hard work? I'd like to think that it is, but then I have to remember that there are millions of people who worked harder than an Ancient Egyptian slave and achieved virtually nothing. Is it focusing your thoughts to the degree of a magnet? Perhaps, but again, most people trying that approach today have just as many complaints about the time length of goal accomplishment, if it ever actually does happen, than they have praise for it. Is 'Success' something you have to be born into? While it definitely helps to have inner connections with the creative world, the best material I have ever read or seen came from the hands of those who were relatively obscure. So, I can't say I am even close to achieving my own version of any answer to such a predicament. What I can say is this, Passion is something you either have or you don't. You can't buy it. You can't steal it or borrow it, and you definitely can't fake it for very long. Eventually, if you're in any way attached to the creative, it's going to be the only driving force behind your works. That is usually the difference of those whose works are worth remembering and those we forget about daily.
So that, to me, is most important aspect of the creative. Constantly rekindling passion and the need to add perfection in all we create. If we can do that and truly be satisfied with all that we do, maybe that is the true nature of success. If not, carry on I say. Carry on