Saturday, March 22, 2008

Launching...




Well, hello.

I've been putting off starting this thing because there are so many ways to start, so many directions to go in that it makes my brain hurt. So the solution seems to be to just let it rip and see what happens. Hopefully, it will take its own care & feeding upon itself at some point, and I'll not have to deal with the 'blank white page' issue so often. The really cool thing is there is no right or wrong because, well...it's my blog he heh.

I guess I'll start at the top, literally. The title of this was originally going to be "The Starving Artist, Daily Curmudgeon, Indigo Blues from the Chrysalis". I like the rhythm of it, it has meaning and encompasses pretty much everything that I think, feel and do. (Why this is all relevant will come to light at some point--stay tuned) But there already is a blog called "The Daily Curmudgeon" (how dare they!). Plus, if I did leave it at the original version it is a bit long for practical purposes. So we'll stick with the abbreviated one.

As for the rest, I am a 'starving artist'. Not literally "starving" (I am Italian, after all), but I'm smart enough to know that as an artist I'm nowhere close to where I should be, and recognize that sacrifices have to be made to get there. This is not uncommon; if anyone ever thinks they've learned and done all there is to know and do, they're lying to themselves. I've come to the realization that I cannot (not 'won't, but really 'can't') make a living or spend the majority of my time doing something that isn't a creative expression of some kind.
Unfortunately, society as a whole hasn't caught up with that reality, and it can knock our kind around quite a bit. (More on that later--have I got some stories on 'bucking the system' and all that entails) I will however, go without all the trappings of a normal American lifestyle as a welcome tradeoff to working at what I love, and must do. You have to make a choice and figure out if you really need the little 'luxuries' that everyone seems to think are necessary. I don't, and this is a good thing. It's not hard, really, and makes for a reasonable facsimile of 'contentment' for what it's worth.

"From the Chrysalis" is the title of a poem that I wrote when I was 17 and is another thing that will come up at some point here, at another time."Indigo Blues" is the working title of a book of poetry and drawings that has been in the queue for quite a while which I hope to get it into tangible form very soon. Indigo, yes :-)

All I'll say about that right now is to direct you to these two sites:
http://indigolifecenter.wordpress.com/
http://metagifted.org/

Great organizations, great people. Check 'em out; it may save you a lot of grief.



"But artsfarm, what is the purpose of all this anyway, and why should we even read this drivel of yours?"

Well, several reasons, Bunky.

Basically, I've seen a lot and have way too much stored in this head of mine that needs somewhere to go. I like to talk, and to write. I figure if any of it can help someone along the way, all the better. It's always easier to deal with something if we know someone else has been through it. If we have to go through crap in our lives, it may as well have some value, even if not to us directly ('waste not, want not' and all that).

One thing that I hope to address is kids, young and old, who are artists and/or indigos. Being either type is hard enough, but being both and surviving takes some major work. The indigo thing is touched on above, so we'll elaborate on that later. But first-art, or rather, 'the arts'--music, writing, and all the rest, as well as the more traditional aspects like drawing, painting, etc.
There is an overwhelming number of folks who think they don't have any artistic ability at all, and the problem is that virtually everyone does, but have been 'trained' to believe otherwise by parents, siblings, teachers etc. That is a crime, plain & simple, and if I can get through to even one person the FACT that we all have innate creativity that just needs to be recognized and developed, then I've done my job.

This blog is just one of several self-indulgent ways to fix my own stuff so I can move on. So we're in this together, kids.


So that's all for now; I have to get some work done here, and will be back to continue this strange ride as soon as I can.

See ya!
-artsfarm.

*Now playing: "Easter" by Patti Smith. Get it NOW.






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