Tighten The Net

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Tighten The Net

No doubt about it, these are uncertain times.

The world has been thrown for a loop - one that we had not properly prepared for - and “normal life” as we know it is going to be put on hold for some time.

Is this going to suck?

In a lot of ways, yes.

Is the mass chaos and fear warranted?

For us in the US, caution is certainly warranted, but perhaps not the extreme fear (and let’s hope it never gets to that point).

Do we know what’s going to happen moving forward? What that will look like?

No, not yet.

“So, everything’s terrible and all hope is lost???”

Not at all!

These precautions and life interruptions are necessary to prevent the wide spread of an illness that could see our entire health system overrun. That’s when the real trouble would start (look to Italy if you’re unsure what I mean).

This is going to hit a lot of people hard - not the least of which are artists, entrepreneurs, freelancers, small business owners, and all non-salaried/non-insured employees - but we can still support each other.

As Amanda Palmer says in The Art of Asking: Tighten the net.

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Love The Art, Hate The Artist?

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Love The Art, Hate The Artist?

Society - particularly American society - loves to demonize or to “other” art and artists.

We deride people who create:

  • “Oh, you’re an artist? You’re one of those.”

  • “Oh, you’re a writer? I wish I could sit at home all day.”

  • “Oh, you’re an actor? You must love starving.”

These are of course specific examples using common ideas and tropes, but these kinds of reactions are common and probably sound familiar to you.

We tell people who want to go into the arts:

  • “Why would you to throw your life away?”

  • “But you have so much potential!”

  • “But there’s no money in the arts!”

Being a creator is clearly seen as being *less than,* but why? Less than what? Why would we consider becoming an artist or writer or performer or designer a path that is throwing your life away or not using your skills and talents?

Well, Capitalism.

But this type of thinking and behavior not only can be unlearned, but it needs to be unlearned. Art and the products of creation are everywhere, but we’ve been conditioned to have a blind spot for most of it, and what we do see we are told to feel contempt for. Let’s just see how pervasive art is, shall we?

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