Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Discernment

I've talked a lot about success and what it takes to achieve your goals but the one thing I haven't discussed is discernment. Discernment is defined as the ability to judge well and success in this business is largely based on judgement calls. As I move through my career I continue to realize how important discernment is. We have to use good judgement at every turn especially as it relates to people and how we allow them to operate within our lives. The hard thing to face is that most people are only concerned about themselves and their own agendas. No matter what you do for them, they are only out for self. It has taken me a long time to understand that I have to be very careful about who I work with and who I allow into my creative and personal space. As artists we come from a very pure place. We wear our emotions on our sleeves and are mostly very honest and some times vulnerable people. Now this honesty is what allows us to make art that connects with people which in turn drives this industry because at the end of the day, nothing REALLY connects like THE TRUTH but that is a concept that most people are not that familiar with. I've had a lot of acquaintances but very few true friends. The way to judge or take stock on your relations is to analyze what theses relations are based on. If most of your relationships are only based on what you can do for others but these relationships are not reciprocal then you have a problem. We can't allow ourselves to be used and taken advantage of. This is why discernment is so important. We have to be able to size up a person's true intent from the start. This is actually very easy to do. You just have to listen, observe and deal with the truth that is put before you and not the truth you want to see. I've been guilty of seeing the things I wanted to see and not seeing what was really right in front of me. You see, I am an eternal optimist but I've had to learn to be more discerning as not to jade or corrupt my optimism. Bottom line ... when people show you who they are, just believe them the first time. It is not our job to babysit or change ANYONE. So let's stay on task, create great art and be very discerning about who and what we allow into our personal and business space.

The Truth
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