I am reading a book called Art & Fear. I spend time with many people who make a living making art. Visual art, sculptures, paintings, performance art, plays…live theater, and people like me who create experiences; teaching, facilitating, leading workshops, webinars, and retreats.
We all have something in common; a passion for expression. It is not for the faint of heart. I read this in the book: “The world offers vastly more support to work it already understands---namely, art that’s already been around for a generation or a century. Expressions of truly new ideas often fail to qualify as even bad art--- they’re simply viewed as no art at all.
I’ve heard it said that it’s never crowded on the leading edge. Edge-walkers are often alone out there noticing what nobody else notices, or thinking, seeing, hearing, sensing something not yet in the mainstream.
The risk of offering something new or different is big.
Expressions of truly new ideas can make people uncomfortable. And, in our culture, we don’t like discomfort…we think it means something is wrong. Discomfort however almost always means growth.
Being provocative takes skill. I try to and often do challenge myself daily to be willing to wrestle with new ideas that make me uncomfortable. Perhaps it has something to do with believing in human evolution and/or believing we need a revolution.
Thoughts?