From a letter to a friend....

Just a little rant on the value of creativity in the world today.

Our whole society is seemingly becoming more and more geared
to reinforce the theory that creativity of all kinds, is worthless.

It's being pounded into our collective heads that things like
painting, music, writing, photography, etc., are really sort of
useless and, in fact ANYBODY CAN DO IT so why PAY someone.
The point is NOT EVERYBODY CAN DO IT! The 'powers
that be' have somehow raised the limbo stick so every
Tom/Dick/Harry can dance under it and be a Rockstar.
Making stuff up is hard! It takes time. Serious energy. And to be
good, you have to be smart. Learning music theory for example
is every bit as difficult as learning Algebra and Geometry. They've
cut back the creative programs in schools. (Like they don't matter).

And parents live in FANTASY-VILLE thinking that their child is
going to win American Idol, or that their stupid 12 year old's Flip
video of his teenage bedroom will go VIRAL on YouTube and they'll all become RICH and FAMOUS. Yeah. ANYBODY CAN DO IT BECAUSE IT'S ALL CRAP!

The real artists do what they've always done. Make art for art's sake. As you most definitely know, there is SO much to explore and learn and improve on when you start a creative project of any kind. That's where you have to get your "compensation". Because, traditionally, creative people are BUSKERS most of the time. Because the product of an artist's hard work is usually intangible, or it's worth is judged on a sliding scale of popular "taste", THEY USUALLY GET CRAPPED! I mean...it's not like being a baker. You wouldn't EVER walk into a bakery and just TAKE a loaf of bread with the reasoning..."Well I know it's stealing, but I'll do it JUST BECAUSE I CAN". But people do it EVERY DAY to music. And Movies. And books.

And visual arts? Man, they do have something tangible to sell, but it's NOT bread. It's sort of nebulous. The line between good and bad art is micro THIN. Who get's to say what's good or bad? Usually some rich, fat, white guy who doesn't have an ounce of taste. He gets to 'decide' because he wants to collect the most expensive and popular pieces because he thinks it makes his DICK bigger. He doesn't give a shit about the actual work. Hasn't got a creative bone in his body. And USUALLY, the artist never lives to see there monetary success if indeed they ever get it. It escalates after they are DEAD!

Now, all that being said, I know I'm preaching to the choir. I was just compelled to remind you, cause I do know how crappy it feels to be disrespected for your creative time and energy. It won't stop you though. Somehow it will improve the next thing you work on. O.K., Polyanna is done.