I've had some ideas floating around my head for the past few months. These ideas have come from several independent places but have stuck together accumulating in the same part of my brain. I think it's time to finally put these thoughts down coherently (hopefully) as a post.
The ideas all center around how we define success as artists and creators.
Before getting to those thoughts, I feel like I should set a context for the "standard" notions of success that we have as Americans. Living in a country that prides itself with the opportunity for all to live the "American Dream" (however you believe that to be actually true or not), we have very ingrained ideas about what success is, how we should define it and what it takes to go after it.
This idea of success often includes attaining goals such as getting a higher education (often for the purpose of getting a better-paying job), moving up to the middle class, having an adequate retirement fund, providing well for our families, having a nice car and the newest gadgets, etc.
There isn't anything wrong with those particular goals, but it does concern me that the primary drivers of those goals are wealth, status and security. I'm not throwing these out, but merely suggesting that we should think about questioning our culture's definition of success and see if it really lines up with our deepest priorities, or even more importantly, the priorities that God seems to favor in the life of his people.
My first cliche about success
The first cliche I can remember concerning success was a slogan provided by my high school principal: "Success is a journey not a destination". Normally, I tune out after hearing something trite like that, but for whatever reason, it has stuck. So let's take a moment a dig a bit into that statement. Does that mean the destination is not important? That can't be right, or else what's the point of the journey? Is this jargon based on a view of the world that says that there's nothing objectively good or worthy to strive towards. Knowing the man that said it, I doubt that was the original intention, so perhaps there is more meaning to tease out here.
I wonder if this could mean that if we are so focused on the destination, then we'll miss victories, successes and the beauty of life that happens everyday. I wonder if this could mean finally arriving at our destination of success is only part of the point of traveling there to begin with. The other part, perhaps even more important than the first, is how we live, make choices, include others and bring relationships into this journey.
I wonder if our own character refinement along the way is what is really important.
All too typical "success" stories
I heard a guy who works for a big record label in Nashville give a lecture about the future of the music industry. This guy had been in the thick of it for over a decade and specialized in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) market. Among other really interesting topics about the changing industry, he spoke about many of the artists he had personally seen come and go within the business. In the midst of this topic, he said something that surprised me.
He said (and I paraphrase): "I don't think the quick, meteoric rise of a given young CCM artist is actually the gift from God that most think it to be."
What, you say? If nothing else, success certainly would mean that, right? And doesn't God want us to be successful as creators, especially someone producing art that accurately points to Him? Doesn't He want us to positively affect large numbers of people with our works? Wouldn't that always give Him more fame in the process?
I'm not God, so I can't definitively answer that question, but I would have to say "no". And Nashville guy would agree. And why? Because how many artists have you heard of, religious and non-religious both, that have completely spun out shortly after finding initial tastes of fame, often ruining their careers, lives and families? How many stories do we know of popular artists getting trapped into drug addictions, or an insatiable hunger for more spotlight, or compromising on values and beliefs in heat of the moment. The fact that there is even a cultural concept of the 27 club (i.e. a number of popular artists dying young around that age, often associated with drug use) should be indicative that something is awry.
So, if being a successful artist is not about the rise to fame, then what is it?
Tony Bennett's Answer
Katie and I had the pleasure of seeing the band Over the Rhine play their yearly Christmas show. They are an incredible band, so I suggest to everyone to see them if they come to your town. They have spent many years successfully working as independent musicians, so when they provide a nugget of wisdom from their experience, my ears perk up. Part of the way through the show, Linford, the husband of the married couple duo that comprises the band, talked about a quote he heard Tony Bennett once say in an interview. Here's what Tony said (and I paraphrase again):
"To not work on your craft in a way that produces a long life of successful creation is to sin against your talent."
Say again?
"To not work on your craft in a way that produces a long life of successful creation is to sin against your talent."
What do you think?
I say we're back to character again. Because what better produces a long life of consistent positive activity in anything but character and discipline in our lives.
How would I define "successful creation" and "positive activity" in this context? Well, that feels like another entry of its own to be posted soon, so stay tuned for that. .
How would I define "successful creation" and "positive activity" in this context? Well, that feels like another entry of its own to be posted soon, so stay tuned for that. .
Back to Nashville guy. In his talk, funny enough, he actually used Over the Rhine as an example of a band who has positioned themselves for this long-term success through their years of touring, writing and building a fan base incrementally.
My new definition of success as an artist
But how does that work in our lives as creators? Nashville guy says that for those artists, the ones who slog it out, do the really hard work, build a fan base a person at a time and a show at a time, and who get a little further each year, something happens in them. They have time to become excellent at their craft. They have the opportunity to fail early and often in the beginning because there's not huge pressures involved. They begin to appreciate every new fan, because each one has taken work to bring into their vision. They see every seat filled at a show as a gift. They see how much grace for provision for an artist there is when people aren't forced to purchase concert tickets or buy albums but choose to anyway.
In short, they gain character in their lives along the way.
And the incredible reality of an artist who journeys on this path is this: by the time they become famous, they have enough maturity to not really care any more about whether they're famous or not. These are people who have fallen in love with the work and process of creating and positively utilizing their own gifts. They become artists who would write music (or blow glass or form clay or write poetry, etc.) whether anyone else ever pays attention to it or not. They create because they can't help but to create.
I think I would like to officially call that success.
And I'm beginning to realize that that's the kind of artist I want to be. How about you?
-Michael
Do you agree with this definition of success? Why or why not? Are there any examples artists you know that have careers or daily disciplines that you would like to emulate? I'd love to hear any thoughts or suggestions you have in the comments below.
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