This is my favourite go–to for inspiration. A commencement speech by Neil Gaiman to University of the Arts 2012. (around 20 minutes long but definitely worth it)
"When things get tough, this is what you should do: Make good art. I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician — make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by a mutated boa constrictor — make good art. IRS on your trail — make good art. Cat exploded — make good art. Someone on the Internet thinks what you’re doing is stupid or evil or it’s all been done before — make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, eventually time will take the sting away, and that doesn’t even matter. Do what only you can do best: Make good art. Make it on the bad days, make it on the good days, too."
His speech was later turned into a book art directed by renowned book designer Chip Kidd. (definitely worth checking out as well!)
Great link: http://bit.ly/1w8zmDJ
One comment Mr. Gaiman made was “If you have an idea of what you want to make, what you were put here to do, just go and do that.” If only that was the case.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to be a police officer. But because of the region I grew up in and the time period that it was, I was not able to do this. Why? Because I am a white male. I processed with twenty six different law enforcement agencies and during that time I had three separate Chief of Police tell me that they were sorry, that their was no way that I would get hired because I was a white male. That during those years of processing, for various agencies, they were only allowed to hire blacks, females, and black females. Of which I was none of these three.
I did get to work, eventually, as a Police Tech answering 911 calls, and working dispatch. I later also was hired to develop software and training materials that are used by the Montgomery County Maryland Department of Police and the FBI. These included incident reconstruction and redesigning the way shoe and tire prints are tracked. These methods are still in use today. I even received an award from the agency for my efforts as these processes were adopted by most of the agencies across the entire East Coast. Exceptional achievements in my mind, but not really what I felt I was mint to do with my life.
Sometimes, it’s society that decides what you will get to do with your life, not you. A sad, and devastating, reality that we all come to realize as we get older. For those whom get to do what it is they always hopped they would due are lucky, to say the least.
Their’s a saying I’ve coined that most whom have heard me say it don’t really understand the full meaning of what it is I’m saying. But for those few who understand my journey, it’s a monumental statement…
“If I could be the man I always hoped I would be, then I wouldn’t be the man I am today.” - Michael A. Eggerl
Neil Gaiman influences me a lot, and I'm a huge fan of his work! One of the quotes from the speech that sparked me emotionally was when Gaiman said "If you're making mistakes, it means you're out there doing something. And the mistakes in themselves can be useful.” Throughout my past, I was humble and hungry of my creative success! One day, I had a dramatic conversation with a close friend of mine, who's an audio engineer at my college. What he said to me that changed my life forever was "You think everything you're doing, especially for the sake of your credits, right now is going to make you successful? You have another thing coming!" The year after that advice, I dramatically changed, but for the 'much better'! Ever since, I accepted pioneering my own style through design, 'but' tolerated making mistakes! Although, it was stressfully burdensome as my creative adamance continued my unhappiness and inconfidence, on my aesthetic techniques especially! For a long d**n time, I felt that my thoughts throughout time melted in 299,792,458 m/s - THE SPEED OF LIGHT! I had to work faster and meet deadlines - I 'still' abhor those things to DEATH, BUT it's absolutely necessary to overcome 'the blazing tides' of society!
ReplyDeleteHowever, it was my mom who liberated me from the veins of 'negative time'! In fact, it brought me to my past one day during the summer when a teacher from the fifth grade advised me this…"Never look at the clock at all times, it will impair your confidence in misery!" For so long, never did I realise this until a summer when I took college off! What I learned is that "impatience roots fear!" That was when my mom manifested to me to "take it one day at a time!" Afterwards, I felt a sudden pulse where I witnessed a notion, and it goes like this…"With a lion's heart, coated in optimism, simple and "small" steps will guide you to definite prosperity", and it did! My soul changed significantly! More than often did I started to smile, laugh, learn, explore, respect, and tolerate the mistakes I did in college and life! In conclusion, I'll stress this out genuinely to everyone, "Without mistakes, there's NOTHING! Not even Earth…or humanity…or anything!" An important lesson to 'digest' from Gaiman is to define 'mistakes' as beautiful and vital no matter who and what you are!
Thank you Tania for the fantastic video!
The best mistakes are what I like to call "Controlled Failure." And life wouldn't be particularly interesting without it.
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