Harley King — Tomorrow

During a conversation with a colleague this week, she asked me in jest: "What is the meaning of life." I responded with the first thing that came into my mind: "The sun will rise tomorrow."  And we both laughed.



On the surface, this appears to be a mundane, boring observation about the obvious. We all know the sun will rise tomorrow so we never give it any further thought.  We sometimes become so caught up in the stresses, challenges and problems that vex our daily lives that we act like the world is coming to an end. What we often forget is that tomorrow is a new day filled with new opportunities. 



In my 67 years on this planet, the sun has never failed to rise.  Now, I may not have been able to see it  on some days because of the clouds, but I knew it was there. This may seem like a simple observation, but it is filled with wisdom. If we choose, each new day is an opportunity to begin again. Every time the sun rises, we are given a chance to try something different — to find another path.



Have you ever sat before a blank piece of paper and had no idea what to write?  Have you ever stood before a blank canvas and had no idea what to paint?  Do you remember your frustration and maybe even anger?  Have you ever spent a few hours writing or painting and felt that your work was worthless? Have you ever wanted to give up and quit?  Remember that today will simply pass into history and tomorrow will be a brand new day that offers the opportunity to start again.



So tomorrow, give thanks for the sunrise and shout, "Good morning, world!" from the roof tops.

Milton Berle — Build a Door

Many times we have to make our own opportunities. People often complain that they were not given a chance. They fall into "If Only"thinking: "If only I could have gone to school." "If only my boss would have promoted me." "If only my parents loved me." "If only I had a job." "If only someone would publish my book." If only. . . . If only. . . . If only. . . . 

If you are going to achieve your dreams and accomplish your goals, you must move beyond "If Only" thinking to "Opportunity" thinking. You must build your own doors and knock on them.

What doors can you build today that you can knock on tomorrow? Building the door to opportunity does not just happen by accident. It takes hard work, belief in oneself and persistence.

General Colin Powell

Some people look for the easy way, the next get rich scheme and the short-cuts to the top. I had a brother-in-law like that. He was always looking for the business opportunity that would make him rich. He fantasized about retiring to a beach in Cabo, Mexico. Yet, he was never willing to invest the time and hard work it takes to become successful.  He was always moving onto the next great idea that would make him rich. He died with his dream unfulfilled. Even on his death bed, he was still scheming how to make his first million.

Practicing any of the arts takes patience, hard work and persistence. Nothing happens overnight. Many people quit too soon. They become frustrated because what they produce does not match what is in their imagination. And this quitting begins early in life. I recently saw a four-year old girl who was working on a painting of the ocean become frustrated because the painting did not match what was in her mind. She burst into tears. Has this happened to you? Do you become so frustrated that you quit? Do you give up on your work?

If you want something bad enough, you have to prepare, work hard, and learn from your failures. As artists and writers we understand this because we sometimes labor for years or even a lifetime with little or no success. My words are simple: keep writing, keep painting, keep living.

Wilma Rudolph

We all have dreams, things that we want to accomplish in our lives, but many of us give up too soon. We don't have the commitment to achieve what we dream of achieving. To be an artist in a world where you have to have a 9 - 5 job in order to pay the bills requires commitment. You have to get up earlier than everyone else or go to bed later than everyone else in your family. You have to steal minutes wherever you can to write, to draw, to paint, to dance. 

Sometimes we have to create in isolation, without contact with other creative souls. We have to force ourselves to write even when our body and mind is finding ways to procrastinate. Many of us don't have people in our lives encouraging us to create. In fact, we may have people telling us to get a real job. We have to be our own coach and cheerleader. We have to be willing to do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do? Have you the commitment to be a creative leader?

Discipline is one of the keys to being an artist or a writer. One needs to work every day. People often say: "I work when I am inspired." If you wait until you are inspired, you will be waiting a long time. If you work whether you are inspired or not, you will find that soon inspiration will become a constant companion. Work opens up the creative spirit and the inspiration flows. So my message is simple: work every day even if it is for only 15 minutes.

Success comes from work. Work when you are sad. Work when you are happy. Work when you don't feel like it. Work when you want to go to a movie. Our minds are very good at finding excuses for not working. "I have to do the dishes." "I have to wash the clothes." And the list goes on. Work takes discipline and will power. 

Since you have no boss but yourself, you have to hold yourself accountable. Schedule your hours when you are most creative and stick to your schedule. Maybe you write between 5 am and 6 am. Or if you have the luxury, schedule your work hours from 8 am to 5 pm with an hour off for lunch. Some writers write in the morning and do their research and marketing in the afternoon. You have to find the schedule that best fits your temperament.

Creative leaders sometimes struggle with discipline. They procrastinate. They know they should pick up the pen and write or pick up the paint brush and paint, but they find excuses. When you find yourself procrastinating, remember what you want. What is your dream? What is it you want to accomplish? Why are you here? Focus on your goals and you will have the discipline to do what you need to do.

We all have dreams and goals but many of us never achieve them because we have not mastered the art of self-discipline. I define self-discipline as sacrificing short-term pleasure for the achievement of long-term goals. If you want to be a novelist but you never seem to find the time to write, you will never write your novel. If you want to be a painter but spend your time partying with friends and not painting, you may never produce any great paintings. The arts require a lot of self-discipline. We need to be able to sacrifice the pleasure of the moment for the achievement of long-term success.

What are you willing to sacrifice for your creative work? What are you willing to give up? Life is never easy. There are many days when you will take one step forward and three backwards. Do you have the stubbornness to keep going even when you see very little light at the end of the tunnel?

The creative arts are not for the weak of will. The creative arts require commitment, persistence and self-discipline in the face of cold-hearted rejection. Do you have the self-discipline to stay focused when the world is screaming that you should quit and find a normal line of work? Do you have the strength to keep going when you have received 250 rejection letters? How long are you willing to wait for success? Two years? Five years? Ten? Twenty?

Suzanne Valadon

The Blue Room

(1923)

"I paint with the stubbornness I need for living, and I've found that all painters who love their art do the same."

— Suzanne Valadon

French Painter

1865 - 1938

Commentary:

To be a creative artist, you need to be persistent because many obstacles will get in your way including your own need for perfection.  The creative journey is only for the stubborn.  How long are you willing to work at your painting?  Your writing?  Your acting?  Or do you give into family pressure?  Societal pressure?  Doubts?  Fears?

What are you willing to sacrifice for your creative work?  What are you willing to give up?  Life is never easy and the same is true for the creative leader.  There are many days when you will take one step forward and three steps backwards.  Do you have the stubbornness to keep going even when you see very little light at the end of the tunnel?

Biography:

Suzanne Valadon was the daughter of an unmarried laundress.  When she was 15, she joined the circus, but was forced to quit a year later after falling off a trapeze.  She eventually became a model for artists including Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec where she studied their artistic techniques.  She is best known for painting female nudes but also painted landscapes, florals and still life.  She sometimes worked as long as 13 years on a painting before showing it in public.

Suzanne Valadon was the model for these paintings by Renoir:

   

Rabindranath Tagore

"Faith is the bird that feels the light 

and sings when the dawn is still dark."

— Rabindranath Tagore

Bengali Poet, Novelist, Musician, Painter, Playwright

1861 - 1941

Commentary

Do you believe in your artistic talent?  Do you have faith in your creativity?  Do you let your creative light shine or do you hide it under a bushel basket and refuse to share it with the world?  



Creative leaders need to have the faith that they are on the right path.  Even in those darkest hours before the dawn, you need to understand the sun will rise again — that your creative work is important.  



Don't give up on yourself.  Don't give up on the work you do.  You are unique and special.  No one else can create the paintings, the poems or the novels that you can create.  If you don't use your creative gift to produce art, the world will have lost much.  So pick up your pen and write.  Pick up your brush and paint.  Pick up your guitar and sing.

Biography

Tagore was the youngest of thirteen surviving children born to Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi.  The original family name was Banerjee but was eventually anglicised to Tagore.  His paternal grandfather visited Queen Victoria and other English royalty.  Tagore 



Tagore was raised mostly by servants because his father traveled a lot and his mother died when he was young.  He was raised mostly by servants.  His home was the social center for the arts including music, theater and literature.  His oldest brother was a poet and a philosopher.  Another brother was a composer, musician and a playwright.  His sister was a novelist.  Tagore shunned schools and formal education preferring to be tutored and to read books.  His father sent him to England to study law but he did not like it and instead studied Shakespeare.  He married Mrinalini Devi in 1883 and had five children.



Known mostly for his poetry, Tagore also wrote novels, essays, short stories and thousands of songs.  He composed over 2,000 songs.  He wrote 8 novels and 4 novellas.  He also took up painting at age 60 and had several exhibitions of his work.



In 1913, Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature.  In 1915 the British Crown granted him knighthood which he renounced in 1919 after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Poetry

Here is a poem by Tagore:

My Song

by Rabindranath Tagore

This song of mine will wind its music around you,

my child, like the fond arms of love.

The song of mine will touch your forehead

like a kiss of blessing.

When you are alone it will sit by your side and

whisper in your ear, when you are in the crowd

it will fence you about with aloofness.

My song will be like a pair of wings to your dreams,

it will transport your heart to the verge of the unknown.

It will be like the faithful star overhead

when dark night is over your road.

My song will sit in the pupils of your eyes,

and will carry your sight into the heart of things.

And when my voice is silenced in death,

my song will speak in your living heart.