10 Battle Cries for Artists Struggling with Publishing on Social Media
Legacy, Not Likes: Why Long-Term Faith Is Key to Artistic Success
I know many artists find joy in creating artwork but struggle with putting themselves out there on social media.
10 Thoughts:
Your Voice Matters More Than You Think
It is your very reticence to publish that makes your voice so important. Your resistance indicates that what you want to put out is authentic. Inside, one thinks: “What if it won’t be received well? What if the world doesn’t care, resists or laughs?”. Don’t listen to this voice. Instead, stop underestimating what it is you have to give. It may be exactly what the world is missing. Think of culture as a jigsaw puzzle, and each spirit as having a missing piece. Do not deprive the whole of your insights. And remember, carrying one of those pieces is a responsibility. You fulfil the contract with life when you give it back.
Skywalker, not Yoda
On your journey on social media, you do not need to be fully formed. Put out your broken message, your fractured process, your shimmering uncertainty. You don’t realise it, but it penetrates the darkness with its beam. Its gleam is the light another can follow. What attracts people to you is not that you are Yoda but that you are Luke Skywalker. In pain. Striving. Willing to fail but resolute in your journey. When in doubt keep learning along the way, keep sharing how you grow and never be afraid of failure.
Your Art Moves Culture
Sometimes we think: “What’s the point, our social media profile is small and nobody cares”. Wrong. Move one person and you move the world. You matter. Society evolves one revelation at a time. That is culture. No matter how cut off you feel; you are a part. For crying out loud, stop holding back. Give your gift. Start right now. And allow life’s magic to start working for you.
Discover Yourself Through the Bite-Sized
You are within your story - do not wait until the end to start writing it. Your story is something living, not a retrospective. It’s not about what happens at the end, it’s about how you get there. Do not miss the opportunity of the everyday. We often make the mistake that our “message” is something that we arrive at. This is a fallacy. Your message is something that is living and within you. What makes your life interesting is that you don’t know how your story plays out. But you are fighting to make the best of it along the way. What characterises that experience? It is struggling, it is terror, it is not knowing. The courage it takes to face your life is your story. So break it up into bite-sized pieces and share your glorious human journey. You uncover the truth not as a whole, but bit at a time. Let others learn from your adventure: put out your voice; raw, honest and unfiltered.
Remember the Reason Why You Create
If you are struggling with the insignificance of a post, don’t be so quick to judge. You are not posting into the void. You are laying a trail on the path you are taking. Each seemingly forgotten post becomes a clue someone else can follow. Do not get tricked by modern amnesia. The real significance of this moment transcends the next hour. Rather, it is determined by how your past self can inspire and impact someone in the future. They will wonder, “How did this artist get to where they were?” Leave them a map! You become the inspiration they need not by becoming the artist you will be in the future. But by being the gutsy hustler today who never gave up. There is no more important moment in your life than this one. Do you know what genius is? Believing in yourself. Nothing else. Go - love, struggle and live. Leave a trail for others to follow. That is why you create.
Don’t be Afraid to Hit Publish!
Regarding fearing what the world thinks: it might sound tough, but most of the world is only thinking about itself. What does this mean? That there is nothing to be afraid of when you hit publish! In the meantime, you reach those that most need to hear it. The power of your art is not defined by the manifestation of madness that is the digital world - but by how it impacts the universe of a single human heart.
Your Art Illuminates the Void
Forget the need for external validation. I know we are just human. But what is it that your heart says? Listen to it. It is more powerful than the indifference of the world. You are the flickering flame at the centre of the greatest void; imagine how many spirits out there might need its light. Once they find it, they will bring kindling and wood. Together; you illuminate the world. That is what happens when artist and audience connect.
You are the Threshold Between Two Worlds
To get your message out you will need to be guttural, independent & bloody-minded. And with it, you need to stay open, sensitive, and kind. You matter because you dare to live in the duality. That is - in between the world of being and doing where the threshold of life exists. Your job is to suffer the pain of being a bridge between these two worlds. That is the role of the artist. To be a medium, a mystic, a visionary. If you dare to stay in this purgatory, between this world and the next, and to capture the forms you see in a way others understand: you will be rewarded.
Read on for:
9) Legacy not Likes
10) Forget Vanity Metrics
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