There’s an old saying about choosing to curse the darkness rather than turn on a light which I think applies to lots of creatives today. Seth Godin talks about this idea in a recent blog post, where he discusses an old business that is stuck in status quo mode and the new start-up which takes risks and tries anything because, well, it pretty much has to to get market attention and traction.
What particularly struck me was when he wrote that the older business’ employees felt “helpless.” I see this every day in my work. Creatives seem to fall into three main camps when it comes to their businesses: the “it was this way before and though it might not be this way now it should be, damn it” group, the “it’s not like it was before and there is nothing we can do” one, and the “well, things change, what should we do now?” one.
The first group are the curmudgeons, even when they are 20 years old. I hear the cranky old man voice when I read their posts: In my day, being a generalist was your ticket to success. I shouldn’t have to specialize! and/or I shouldn’t have to market and sell–people should just find me and hire me.
The second evoke the voice of the martyr: So Getty is charging $50 an image to post our work now and paying us less and less–they’re too big to fight and it’s better than nothing, anyway. and/or The clients won’t hire me if I don’t give them all rights so I do because I have to feed my family.
The third, however, are the future. Young, old, in the business forever or just starting out, these are the people who ask questions and reach beyond the expected: What can I do to make my business more successful? and I had this crazy idea for a marketing piece… and Getty won’t make a dime off me–I’ll license my own stock! and I’ll get a second job waiting tables if I have to to make this work.
This last group are the successful ones. They are thinking about the possible and reaching out for their own success. They are happier in the process as well. They remind me of the spirit I’ve been seeing in the people in Ken Burns’ fabulous documentary, The War. The people then did more with less, got inventive with what was available, innovated constantly, and changed the world (both at home and abroad). They didn’t sit and complain that things weren’t fair (even groups like the Japanese-American soldiers whose families were interned, or the segregated African-Americans), they worked to make things better.
Which category are you in? Are you ready to stop cursing the darkness?
Leslie,
I love your work, I am a big supporter of yours. I think you and I are on the same path in many ways.
But you, and Seth, and Selina sometimes sound like Pollyanna. Or Voltaire’s Candide – “Everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.”
Have you not read your Dante also?
“Midway in the journey of our life
I came to myself in a dark wood,
for the straight way was lost.
Ah, how hard it is to tell
the nature of that wood, savage, dense and harsh —
the very thought of it renews my fear!
It is so bitter death is hardly more so.”
Accodring to James Hollis, a Jungian analyst:
“The poet Dante began his his famous, faboulous descent into the underworld with the recognition that midway in life he found himself in a dark wood, having lost his way……
No amount of good intentions, concious intelligence, forethought, planning, pyrayer or guidance from others can spare us thes periodic encounters with confusion, disorientation, boredom, depression, disappointmement with ourselves and others, and dissolution of the plans and strategies that seemed to work before….. The most common charistic of this kind of passage … is the deconstructions of the ‘false self’ – the values and strategies that we have derived from internalizing the messages of our family and the culture. ”
Ego death, and awakening to something beyond.
Sometimes you have to totally reinvent yourself. Hollis again: “Haven’t you sometimes had the feeling, … that you have no idea who you are, or what this business is all about?” And that journey starts with a descent into hell – there is no nice, smiley way to say it.
If it was just about me, I would not bother. But please, go read Gail Sheehy’s “Understanding Mens’s Passages” to get a fuller picture. Or James Hollis, “Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life.”
We have deeper work to do sometimes.
With love, in the dharma,
Michael
* Free Burma: Boycott Chinese Olympics*
when you deny the darkness.
Michael:
I rarely get to use my MA in French on my blog, so your Candide reference is refreshing, if annoying. I say “annoying” only because I really did not enjoy my Voltaire class–the prof was one of those “only say what I say–do NOT dare think for yourself” kinds. Ick.
You bring up an important point, however, and one that does not go unnoticed. Much of my writing and work on this blog are more surface-oriented and positive in attitude. That is deliberate. Many people have a great difficulty even accepting the vaguest idea that marketing is anything more than a simple “do X and Y will happen” exercise. So, I try to bring up the bigger issues, but with humor–to sort of sneak it over the plate.
That is what I did with my “I don’t suck.” tshirts, for example. People get a laugh, but they also, in reading the shirt, remind themselves of their value. Will this bring them to the deeper realizations which will help them more profoundly? No, but it opens the gate to that path, even if only a crack, and that is better than where they were before.
Each person has to come to the deeper realizations in her/his own way and time. You can’t beat people over the head with dharma, unfortunately. 😉 But sometimes you can point to the path. Pointing to the path and saying “It’s a difficult path at times” will discourage too many from even starting down it so I just point…and smile.
Thanks for contributing! –Leslie
Thanks Leslie, maybe this is the wrong venue? This has been boiling in response to “The Industry” thread at PDN for 5-6 weeks. I just thought it would do more good here. ;>)
A lot of folks are in denial, or talking about painting the Titanic, while their real efforts might be better focused on deeper work. But, that is a very scary thing to face, especially for men (about 95% of that population.)
As you said, it is so much easier to talk about “the surface”, especially among men. To quote Sheeny: “Men are driven to prove themselves – perpetually – to other men.”
I have been a bit of a gadfly in that thread at PDN. Trying to make people a little afraid – tell them they do not have all of the answers, no matter *how good* they are!
The universe finds ways to break the ego – MBA marketing Type A superman – and you are left with a pile of ashes (divorce, parents death, firing, death of a close friend, major surgery, etc.)
I guess I am just suggesting that you may need to/be able to go a little deeper with your clients, using the correct tools?
Here is a *long* quote from Sheehy, sorry ;>):
“When counselors encourage them to talk about how their values may have changed and then ask them to consider their needs, the men’s jaws drop: It’s okay to talk about my needs? …….
To their own surprise, what is now likely to come out of their mouths will reflect other, more subjective values:
* I want to believe in what I do
* I want to make a contribution
* I want to spend more time with my family
* I need challange
* I need intimacy – more safe, trusting relationships
* I want a chance to be more creative
* I want a chance to see what I can do on my own
* I need to be recognized ”
I know those have been big on your list all along. But I think the industry – and many people, men and women – are in a time of crisis. Major change is taking place, and economic hardship is very real for some.
A new postcard campaign for business is not going to help much if what you really need is to reinvent yourself for the next stage of life. Maybe you can tell a few, without being accused of being “negative” (= loser in men’s minds ;>)
One more quote from Sheehy – maybe with an assignment for you? ;>)
“A big career often cannibilizes who we really are. It takes little pieces of us. We men compartmentalize our lives – education/marriage/career – and unless there’s an intercept, we tend not to be introspective. We’re more action prone.”
Cheers!
Best,
Michael
One of the things I need to be able to feel when deciding to work with someone new is an openness to looking deeper. When someone calls me and is looking for the “menu” (as I call it) from which to select parts and expect success, someone who, even after gentle nudging to the “well, it’s really about finding your unique vision first” side keeps pushing for a magic bullet, I take a pass on working with that person. I can’t help him/her.
That being said, what you write here is important. Unfortunately, most of the people I encounter aren’t anywhere near as far down their own paths as you, and they are still deeply rooted in fear. What you have written in these comments can easily be construed by someone in fear as being totally negative, and that will just scare them off. I try not to give people any reason to reject that first step down a deeper path–hence the positivism and humor.
But you are right–the industry is in a serious state of change and the status quo folks and martyrs are going to fail, big time. The people who will succeed are those who are open to their own creativity and who are willing to “risk” being honest about who they are and what they make.
Ok, you can be the “good cop.” ;>)
I’ll continue to be the negative one, the gadfly. They think I am just screwing up their nice business thread, about expanding or targeting their marketing. Or just goofing with Da Food Dude ;>)
I have a degree in Photography, did some masters work too (MFA.) I also have degress in Philosophy, Sociology, and an MBA.
I still have *no clue* how I wound up where I am – just waking up to my life! I have a 9 year old son, right now that is all I neded to know. He needs me.
It is fun. But, you sometimes have to pass through helll to start it, and hell is not fun, even if you don’t belive in that bs. It is not a metaphor, it is symbol, for what you probably *will* endure at some point in your life. Unless someone can warn you along the way ….
Love. Dharma. Peace for Burma.
Michael
OK, final harrasement, then I will leave you be:
1. Tell Seth that the path to reinvention for those folks in the blue curve comes through the really tough stuff Gail Sheehy talks about: – 6 months of deprtession, 6 months of networking, 6 months to find the next step. Change is hard.
2. I am *sorry* that I reminded you – in any way – of that prof! I hoped you enjoyed your degree! I enjoyed my undergraduuate major in Philosophy, but dropped out of grad school in Philosophy(in favor of Photography grad school.) Great work opportunities when I got out of school with that philosophy degree though ;>)
3. How does the double-entendre of the “I Don’t Suck!” t-shirt work when a woman is wearing it? (seems like a potential feminist statement?) What about on a man? Do you get certain comments? That was one of my first thoughts when I saw the picture of it on someone ….
4. I understand about being seen as being negatibe. That is what got me *pissed off* about all the smiley face bs to begin with. Not at you though, at someone else – but I fugured *you* were better positioned to process and convert that eneregy to something useful. Sorry. ;>)
5. The curmudgeons and the martyr’s need to be rescued too. The easy, positive stuff works for the third group. The first two are so stuck, there is only one way out – a **long** journey through the darkness.
“Ah, how hard it is to tell
the nature of that wood, savage, dense and harsh —
the very thought of it renews my fear!
It is so bitter death is hardly more so.”
OK, not your job; probably no money in it either. ;>) But you are in a place to recognize and help guide when you see them sometiimes. Eventually someone (something) has to tell them that change is very hard, but necessary.
Sometimes, shit happens; life sucks. If you get too “new age”, you blame the victim – go think positive thoughts and your cancer will go away!
Of course, the younger ones never think it will happen *to them.* Like teenagers and driving. Or “The Right Stuff” – just *try* harder!!!
And there was *always* a reason to blame the guy that crashed – he must have made a mistake. Because to believe otherwise shakes all of your faith, and makes you face your fear.
It was the same when I was bike racing. If someone crashed, they *must* have violated some basic rule, right? Right???
Best L. Hang in there.
Michael