Thread by @KristaVernoff, What follows is a long thread about making a life in the [...]

What follows is a long thread about making a life in the arts that is far too earnest for Twitter. Proceed at your own risk.

As you consider what your goals and intentions for the new year are, consider committing to the idea that making a life and a living in the arts is not an impossible dream.

Would-be artists have often been told by well meaning teachers and families that artistic career goals are pipe dreams. So even when you decide to go for it, that “pipe dream” voice is always in your head.

That voice can make you sit around bitter or frightened that you didn’t yet “make it” instead of doing the daily work that is required to make it.

If you believed deeply and truly that a life in the arts was possible, what would you do with your time to create that life?

If you applied the same kind of energy to becoming an excellent screenwriter that you would apply to becoming say, a lawyer, how might your life change?

A life in the arts is an inconsistent, insecure, wildly worth it ride. If you know in your soul that your happiness depends upon security and stability, then let arts be your hobby and enjoy the hell out of it.

But if you are the kind of human for whom a roller coaster life could bring great joy? Then silence the voices in your head telling you it’s impossible.

There are all sorts of ways to do this that don’t cost any money but require a time commitment and a willingness to be way less cynical than you are on Twitter. I’ve listed some below.

You don’t have to do the whole list at once. Maybe start by picking just one thing.

I didn’t create the things on this list. I learned them all from tremendous teachers, authors, and therapists. They have helped me, and I hope they help you.

1) Write yourself a letter saying all the things you wish you had heard from a parent. Make it long & make it earnest & make it so loving that it’s painful to write.

2) Read this letter every day. Words are powerful medicine. When it loses its power, write a new one.

3) Look yourself in the mirror every day, deep into your own eyes, and say loving, kind, wonderful, supportive words. “I love you. I see you. I’m grateful for you. I see the artist in you. I celebrate you.” I told you this post was was too earnest for Twitter. Do it anyway.

4) Do your art every day. Do it like it’s your job. Meaning… Commit to it. If you think you don’t have time… Consider the possibility of taking 30 days off social media and using all of that time to practice your art.

Or… Consider giving up drugs and alcohol for 30 days. Use all the time you would’ve been procuring, using, and recovering from it to do your art. I swear I’m not judging you for anything you’re presently doing, I’m just saying, you’ve got time somewhere.

If you are buried in young children and/or suffering financially in the pandemic and there’s no time to do any art for real, there is still time to do that mirror work - it takes two minutes - and it will change you and get you ready for when you do have time to do your art.

5) Every time you sit down to practice art take a minute to visualize the biggest judge or critic in your life. Imagine saying “thank you for your input but it’s not needed here” and send them out of the room and close the door behind them. No judges allowed in the art space.

6) If you are too depressed, anxious, frightened, broke, scared, stressed to practice art, commit to writing about your feelings 10 minutes a day. Put a timer on the clock. Put pen to paper. Write “I feel anxious because” and keep the pen moving.

Anytime you want to stop, return to the words “I feel anxious because” or perhaps it’s angry because or scared because and you keep writing. Keep the pen in motion for a full 10 minutes. Do this every day and eventually you may feel ready to do some art.

7) If you think you want to be a writer but don’t know where to start, start by telling the story on paper of a time in your life when you felt lost. Put 10 minutes on the clock and start with “I remember” and keep the pen in motion. Keep returning to the words “I remember.”

Then do it tomorrow about a time when you felt found. Then a time when you felt seen. Then a time when you felt rage. Then a time when you felt terrified. Then the time you cried the hardest. Then the time you laughed the hardest. Now you have a week worth of writing prompts.

If you want to paint or make music or dance you could use the same prompts.

8) Let go of the idea that every time you sit down to make art it has to be a masterpiece and/or it has to be consumable by the public. It puts too much pressure on your pen or your paintbrush. The tiny bite-size 10 minute exercises help alleviate that pressure.

9) It is very rare that anything great is achieved without considerable practice. Give yourself permission to practice. Take the pressure off. I was a waitress until I was almost 30. Support jobs are a standard part of building a life in the arts.

10) Give yourself permission to play with an art that you’re drawn to but not good at. You think you can’t sing? Practice singing. You think you’re uncoordinated & could never dance? Practice dancing. There are free or donation based lessons online. Find them.

The reason for this is that you have to be willing to try and fall and fail and get up and try again if you want to build a life in the arts. You have to be willing to put yourself out there and risk looking silly and risk being criticized.

You have to practice the art of giving yourself a pep talk.

You have to practice the art of taking joy in the process rather than the product.

You have to practice the art of not knowing where the finish line is and doing it anyway.

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