This Guy Falls Down A Hole...
Have you heard this story before?
So it goes: This guy falls down a hole. He shouts up, “Help me! Help me! I’m down in this hole and I can’t get out.”
Time passes.
A priest walks by, hears the man and says a prayer over the hole.
A doctor walks by, hears the man and tosses a prescription into the hole.
A friend walks by, hears the man and jumps down into the hole with him.
Our guys says, “Hey what are you doing? Now we’re both stuck down here.
The friend says, “Yeah but I’ve been down here before and I know the way out.”
I’m paraphrasing the story, probably from the version I first heard when I was a teen while watching The West Wing, but it’s a well known parable that I think illustrates what I’m hoping to do with this newsletter.
Like with the doctor and priest in the story, there is SO much unhelpful advice out there. And it’s usually negative. So many writers are told they can’t make money by people who don’t write. So many dancers are told they’ll never dance professionally by those who’ve never tried. So many actors are told they should quit auditioning by those who’ve already exited stage left.
Isn’t it funny? It’s always those people who say you can’t do something that interrupt the ones who can.
Let me be clear: This is not a space to tell anyone they can’t do something. (There’re plenty of other places to commiserate if you’re looking to find connection through hardship or failure.) The Creative Good is about sharing successes, about being the guy who’s been in the hole before and knows the way out. This is a space for inspiration and artistic appreciation, and empowering all those reasons we became committed to creativity in the first place.
Yes, sometimes our greatest lessons come from our lowest points. And yes, sometimes those lesson lead to giving something up. BUT! This is not the place for those stories. I’m am so exhausted from the public announcements of giving up. And for the record, quitting something that you truly no longer want or feel joy in is totally okay! Quitting because you think it’s too hard (or someone else told you it’s impossible or unvirtuous) well, that’s another thing all together.
BUT! As I was saying, my wish is to make The Creative Good a place that celebrates the times we didn’t give up, those times when we got back on our feet (or out of the hole, as the case may be) and lived to tell the tale!
As someone who’s cobbled together a full-time career in the arts, I’d love to share my own stories about getting out of holes, as well as shine a light on others who have done the same. I’d also love to share and discuss art that’s inspiring or helped me out along the creative path. (There may have been a reason I brought up The West Wing earlier…but that’a a tale for another day.) So I guess what I’m saying is:
A lot of us have been stuck in holes before and we know some ways out.
Would you like a hand?