Finding Yourself

As Clint Eastwood would say, a man has to know his limitations.

This is a lesson lost on the human potential movement that encourages you to become a superman.

There you are, standing atop a skyscraper, the wind blowing in your face.

Theories and technology abound fooling you that such is possible.

The personal computer began it  all by allowing people to publish their own works with the same professionalism as a New York publisher.

Who could resist the notion of competing with Hemingway’s publisher?

Not I.

This trend continued as the Internet developed. Now, it’s possible for anyone to run their own mini-television station within the confines of their home.

It’s very seductive and  also very dangerous.

Sometimes  a person’s horizons can be broadened too widely.

A person can spend years walking down a false passage only to realize that these technologies don’t exist to make amateurs professionals but to make already existing professionals better.

In other  words, you’re better off getting some basic training in that field.

Just because I can go out and buy a microphone and a boom does it mean I possess the basics of communication science to be a successful broadcaster.

Publishing is more than writing, speaking and printing.

Publishing also involves selling, which is tougher than it looks.

In other words, a man needs to know his limitations.

Compounding this is the theory of psycho-cybernetics that asks you to become a master of the universe.  If you imagine something fiercely enough, it will come to pass.

Maybe.

Or maybe such a path takes decades to travel.  Maybe you would’ve been better off in the field in which you were originally trained.

Worse is the idea that if you follow your passion money will follow. I would like to believe so but maybe there is no money in your passion.

Maybe your passion is creating not selling.

Selling is what brings home the bacon.

Is this dispiriting?

Yes, but it’s always better to know the truth.

If you can’t sell, it doesn’t mean your work is bad; it just means you don’t have the talent, passion or time for selling.

In that event, you’ll have to find someone who can, or you’ll have to wait for someone to find you.

Don’t despair. Vincent Van Gogh had to wait.  He knew his limitations and poured his energy into creating.  As did Vivian Maier.

So are you the next Van Gogh?

How can you know?

Ask yourself this question:  Are you prepared to do what you do for nothing for a long, long time?

Are you willing to limit yourself?

Or are you going to get frustrated at the lack of cash and move into opening a pizza joint?