How Artistic Integrity Begins at Home
Our personal values leak into our work
Character is a bundle of virtues that reinforce one another. It’s a whole package of interconnected attributes and unavoidable commitments.
How we act in one situation spills over into other areas of life. Discipline strengthens integrity. Acting justly reinforces discipline.
Our personal conduct influences our work lives.
Keeping one’s word, even in seemingly small tasks, speaks to uncompromising integrity.
In the 1960s, poets and novelists used to gather for meetings in Paris. During one such occasion, the young poet Diane di Prima left early. Others laughed at her. ‘You’re never going to be a writer,’ they told her.
Diane di Prima left early because she had promised her daughter’s babysitter that she would return at a specific time.
She may be a promising poet, but she had to keep her word. Reneging on her promise would deplete her integrity and dilute her self-discipline.
Writing is about keeping commitments, showing up to write every day, no matter how the writer feels, and being reliable and trustworthy.
Indiscipline and dishonesty in a writer’s personal life have consequences; they spill over into their work, deplete their self-worth, and erode their productivity.
Upright personal behaviour facilitates professional excellence.
When artists, like writers, are true to their values, it shows up in their work. A principled life that includes keeping one’s word influences how artists approach their work, how they perform, and what they achieve.
Like charity, artistic integrity begins at home, in the little promises we keep in our daily lives.
“The true use of art is, first, to cultivate the artist’s own spiritual nature.” George Inness
Making art is spiritual internship.
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