https://img.leopedia.io/DQmfKQz4QM1mofThNVY6g7SvMeYc5KHrkxBJ3abKfMWzm2Y/IMG_1022.jpeg
Don’t you love it when you contradict yourself a few days after you make a strong statement about something. My last post was about how I didn’t have the same desire to share my personal experience and process of evolution.
Well I wasn’t lying but I could have emphasized the “…for the most part” or the idea that it’s a general direction I’m moving in, rather than a sudden change.
I have to add that to avoid contradicting myself here, but now that I’ve expressed that, I realize specifically what I have no desire to share. First of all, My personal relationships. I have little to no desire to share most anything relating to important people in my life, the good or the bad, with friends, family, partner or ex-partner.
I’ve never shared much about that and I’d like to keep it that way. I don’t think I’d love anyone else writing about me publicaly and so I’d rather avoid doing that, and if I do I will keep it vague.
Secondly I don’t want to harp on old things and repeat myself over and over again.
I still want to focus more on creative writing, poetry, music, and the artistic process in the future, but when something new comes up, it’s fun to explore.
Third, I don’t want to share things people continuously misunderstand. I don’t need to convince anyone anything about my life so I don’t want to invite them to challenge me if it isn’t something that’s really beneficial to share in detail. Complex issues that require a ton of background information and context for example. Things that are not universal and are hard to find universal themes in.
So what I am happy to continue to share is what is on my mind that I can tie to universal themes and things that are more general that may be applied to other situations and people. Some details may be very hard to relate to but something about the general topic or specific parts of it are applicable to others. It isn’t exaclty soliciting advice from people who I am not seeking advice from.
Today I am wrestling with conflicting believes,trying to identify which ones still remain. Most of the heaviest contradictions have been rooted out or lightened but a few remain so I am trying to work work my subconscious to reprogram them.
Here are some ideas I’d like to write about to tell my subconscious:
Freedom and wealth can coexist.
I grew up hearing that the only way to do well for yourself was to be born into it or to work hard at a job that you aren’t going to love. Anything I wanted to do was considered an undesirable path and I was told over and over that I would struggle. Because the things I wanted out of life were all constantly discouraged it felt like wealth cost freedom.
That is just untrue. There are many ways I can make a living doing what I love and being free.
I could be very good at what I do or do something unique that people value.
I could have multiple low intensity income streams to support me and focus most of my energy on what I enjoy.
I could make smart investments so that I have more leeway to do what I want when I want.
I could go off-grid and require less.
I could build a system between multiple things I enjoy so that they feed each other and generate more income.
Or maybe I fall into wealth by accident, by winning the favor of the right person or getting lucky somehow.
That’s a whole lot of ways to make it, without toiling away at something I hate. Most of these are very much in my hands to pursue.
The longer I experiment and learn, the better I get at building a system and being one of a kind and putting myself in a position to “get lucky”.
Another idea I’ve struggled with is that if I become succesful or well known, I’ll lose control over my life. People will want things from me. There will be rumors. There will be a target on my back, that’s something I’ve come to believe because I’ve observed it.
Perhaps because I am called to music, I’ve always worried about the negative aspects of fame and attention. I felt that people’s expectations didn’t match what I’d want for myself. More attention on me means more attention on my faults.
But now I feel the days where fame matters a lot are over. Even if you pop off for a moment, no one will remember it a few weeks or months later unless you keep it up. You can also become well known among an extremely small demographic and generate enough support from that
I know artists with 100k followers, 10k followers 1k follower or 0 followers (0 because they are not on social media) who are all able to monetize their work to a similar degree.
It’s not about the number but the quality of the relationship. The ones with 100k followers had a hit single or toured with someone famous but very few of those followers love all their work or follow them closely. The artist with 10k followers has a more devoted following and more merch to sell, bringing in more than they need and using it to fund big projects despite being independent. The 1k follower and 0 follower artists earn a living through collaborations and events they are invited to. They don’t promote their social media much but their work is unique so people remember it and the ones who like it will go out of their way to support them.
All of these are options and you can actually adjust your level of fame accoridng to how you engage on social media. Just because you have 100k followers doesn’t mean you have to target all of them. You can still focus on your base, and the rest are likely to ignore it. Or if you want more attention you can post more regularly and optimize for attention.
People generally have way too much to pay attention to and so they have less energy to create drama around being disappointed that you didn’t follow their expectations. They have on demand access to everything and anything ao they will likely just leave you alone rather than cause drama.
It’s liberating to know that if you take a break from the spotlight you can go back to being a normal person, I actually know artists who used to be famous but took a step back and now live normal lives. It’s great to know that thatms an option.
The majority of successful artists now are nowhere near the level of Michael Jackson or Backstreet Boys.
Also its important to remember that 99% of the time people aren’t going to go out of their way to interact with you, let alone cause problems for you. Just because you get a lot of follows and likes doesn’t mean someone is gonna follow you home, and even if you end up being accused of something controversial or get wrapped up into some drama, you have to be pretty big for anyone to pay any attention to it.
Attention is spread too thin now.
Thom York is big enough name. He’s said controversial things and people forget about it cause he’s never been the focus of his work, the work itself is.
So being an idol and being an artist may look like a difference of scale but there are other fundamental difference and the gap between them is widening.
These are just some ideas I want to train myself to keep in mind in order to allow these old fears and contradictions to dissipate.
——
Sun Shone Blue EP on youtube
Sun Shone Blue EP
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfbHdRxiw96PR4ZBvBoQvMutkmaph_Aq4
Posted Using INLEO