Why can’t I get any work done?
Dear Dale:
I’m an artist. I get these big ideas for projects, all so deep and profound, and leap into them with a great deal of enthusiasm but soon get bogged down by doubt. I don’t know what I’m trying to say or whether it’s worthwhile. And so I procrastinate, getting drunk and high and losing myself in trivialities until it’s too late. At which point I give up and get depressed. What’s wrong with me?
Signed,
Extremely frustrated
Dear EF:
This is a tough one for me. I don’t know much about art. Not that I want to. On the contrary, I avoid it as much as I can. But my ex-wife was into it and sometimes dragged me to galleries and art openings so I’ll give it a shot.
My guess is you’re one of those modern artists whose “work” doesn’t look like anything. As such, it’s very hard to justify. Maybe even impossible.
Not that it stops you from trying. Far from it: since no one can figure out what you’re doing, you explain it endlessly. And I do mean endlessly.
You have no idea how much time I’ve wasted listening to guys in snarky T-shirts tell me about their “work.” Sometimes as much as five minutes. May not seem long but believe me, those were very painful minutes.
Compare that to a real artist, who stands silently as you look at his pictures, confident you can figure it out for yourself. Partly because it actually looks like something and partly because he knows the subject will get your blood going: two bikers having a race or a big buck banging a doe. Now that’s art.
You think the cavemen sat around agonizing about their art? What it meant or whether slapping blood on the wall was worth doing? Of course not. They just did it. To kill the time between being born and dying. That’s all.
The universe is a big pile of messy porridge. You’ll never make sense of it. So stop trying. The worst thing you can do with your life is give it meaning.
The world is full of fools and frauds who will tell you otherwise. Ignore them. The only point of life is life itself. Everything else is bullshit.
As for your art… just fucking do it. You’ll be glad you did. Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Dale
Hi. If you’ve made it this far, you probably liked the story. So why not check out some others at my Medium page? https://medium.com/dear-dale
