For some strange reason, everything is just fine. I’m even having a good time. All at once, it seems, I stopped worrying about everything under the sun and got all excited about seeing whatever comes out of me next. Maybe if everybody knew how old I was, that would be a more impressive statement—you can figure it out if you like, and I don’t care. The point is, this is a perfect stance for an artist, and behold, it just fell out of the sky!
Stuff just does fall right out of the sky.
I’ve never been able to let go completely that way before. True, I always basically did what I wanted, but I continually worried about what other people would think and whether it would make any money. The questions are natural enough. It’s just a matter of weight and emphasis and what makes you light up. Whether you’re allowed to be driven by passion or not. You can get way off the track figuring out what’s wrong with other people or your situation: “What the hell is that? People pay for this? I hate his guts!”
That’s the way I was trained, and it sucks. Being the one people said that about is probably lots more fun.
John Hamilton Farr lives at 7,000 feet in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, U.S.A. As New York Times best-selling author James C. Moore tells it, John is “a man attuned to the world who sees it differently than you and I and writes about it with a language and a vision of life that is impossible to ignore.” This JHFARR.COM site is the master writing archive. To email John, please see CONTACT INFO on .png)
. Welcome to the land of en light en ment. Remember what the guru said to Ram Dass – there are no short cuts? All that energy freed up since giving up the rages, but here’s the good thing, ain’t it – the passion remains for the work…and so the win-win cycle ride to the big light in the sky begins.
Thanks, Gillian.
“I continually worried about what other people would think and whether it would make any money”
I can relate.
As a creative, that hollow feeling is always there whenever stuff
is put out on public display.
Haters can keep you up at night…if you let them.
Lovers are the ones that keep you going.
See, now you’ve got it figured out. Congratulations! You hit it.
Just a few minutes ago I was writing to a friend how I used to live from one adventure to the next, never in one place very long. Not giving a crap what anybody thought. Living the great life, for me anyway. I was a photojournalist 31 years, always jumping around. Then something happened. I’m not too much younger than you JHF but I have to get back in the groove, like you have done. Congratulations. Maybe I’ll see you on the road one of these days.
Something always happens, of course. I’m memorizing the “landmarks” so I can find my way back in a hurry next time!
Smart move. It never hurts to prepare, a little.