The work will speak for itself

I’ve always been an attention and compliment seeker. It’s diluted and insecure, I know, but true. There have been countless times in the past when, after finishing an artistic project that I’m really proud of that I’ve been really excited to show it to someone. That someone, before I was married, was usually either my mom, or my little brother Glenn. Mom was always my biggest fan. Available, interested, and seldom critical. When Mom wasn’t around, or when I needed an extra pat on the back, Glenn was always there to be fascinated, genuinely complimentary, and relatable as an artist. After getting married, Kim took over this role, like a fish takes to water. She’s very supportive, and always has been. She plays a much better devils advocate than my own blood did, however. I have to admit that she was much more awestricken by my “amazing talent” while we were just friends and dating than these days. To be fair though…I was certainly much more romantic and attention giving back then too. I guess we’re a bit more realistic now. But I digress…

I’m the type of guy that NEEDS to share his ideas. I NEED to express myself to others. I would be miserable on this earth alone. I can work alone, and even play alone for days on end, but eventually I’ve got to tell someone about. It’s just the way I’m hard wired. Consequently, I have a hard time living by some of the rules that many of my mentors have advised. In his book, Think Like A Billionaire, Donald Trump said that if what he’s doing is good enough, and merits it, it’ll generate attention by itself. I think that is generally true. Then again, he’s Donald Trump. He could probably just fart in a crowded room and get front-page media attention.

Steven Pressfield, the author of The War of Art wrote, “Seeking support from friends and family is like having your people gather around at your death bed. It’s nice, but when the ship sails all they can do is stand on the dock, waiving goodbye. Any support we get from persons of flesh and blood is like Monopoly money. It’s not legal tender in that sphere where we have to do our work. In fact, the more energy we spend stoking up on support from colleagues and loved ones, the weaker we become and the less capable of handling our business.”

Although difficult to live by, I agree with this line of thinking. If the work that I’m doing is worth any attention, it’ll generate that attention naturally. People will talk when they find it. All I have to do it make it obvious enough to be discovered. Advertising doesn’t’ necessarily need to be in your face. It needs to be where you’re looking when you’re ready and willing to see it. Our planet is littered with advertisements. Billboards, television and radio commercials, product packaging, backdrops in sporting events, newspapers & magazines, the internet…heck, some people even sell space on their bodies to advertise these days. However, them more we advertise, the more we seem to tune out the advertising. We mute the TV between program segments and surf the radio stations until we find music. Tivo was even invented JUST to avoid advertisements. We’ve become masters at IGNORING advertising. This is a natural filter. The only things that get through this filter of our attention are the things that we are actually looking for. The things we are seeking out. The things were READY to have pitched to us.

In other words, I need to curb my desire to proactively share (advertise). Especially to loved ones. Why burden them with the obligation of acting interested? What I need to do is develop my ability to recognized opportunities to passively share. I need to cast my net and wait. Rather than starting a conversation about a project I’m working on, I need to be ready to expound on the topic it when it’s brought up naturally in conversation. I need to wait for the wave to come to me, rather than wasting my energy paddling here and there for the ones I see off in the distance. I need to work and create for the sake of working and creating. If I perfect what I’m working on, I won’t need to spend as much energy on the announcing of it. I believe that LittleLDS is a GREAT idea. Yes, I’ll have to do some advertising, but I think that as I endeavor to create quality images for my CDs and create as many of them as I can, the acknowledgement and traffic will come on it’s own.