Maybe you remember the mythological tale of Icarus. His dad built him a set of wax wings to fly, but warned him not to fly too high, lest the heat of the sun melt his wings and he fall into the sea and perish. That’s how most of us remember the story. But according to Seth Godin, that’s only half the story. Apparently Icarus’ dad also told him not to fly too low, lest the moisture from the ocean weigh his wings down, and he fall and perish in the sea as well.
Seth says we’ve only been told half the story, as a cautionary tale to condition us to settle and to comply. A tale that has been used (along with many others) to remind us of our place in our industrial society. Our place which is to do what we are told, and to what want the marketers and the system wants us to want.
This book was a game changer for me. It synthesized many things that were true for me, in a way that had never been said. As a corporate refugee who left my steady, secure job as a chemical engineer to try flying a little higher, his words really resonate for me.
For me, finding and living my truth meant rejecting the conditioning I received most of my life: get good grades, get a steady job at a good company, and make as much money as you can so you can have all the good things in life. This conditioning came from my school system and my parents, whose own futures never included college and who hoped that I would achieve things they never achieved. It also came from my culture – TV commercials promising a better life if I bought this or that product. And it was only reinforced by everyone around me, who were all striving for a “better life” that could be given by the industrial dream.
Until, as most of us experience prior to change, I began to suffer. The things I bought didn’t seem to make me feel better. I HAD the college degree, I HAD the super nice house and car, I HAD 401k, the stocks, and the security. And yet, something was missing. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was just something missing. It felt somewhat unfair. I had done everything that my parents, my society, my education had told me to do to achieve happiness, and yet I wasn’t happy. Finally, I hired a personal coach to help me sort this out, and with her help I realized I was NOT living my truth. I was not using my talents in a way that maximized joy for all beings, including myself. I was NOT connected – to myself, my husband, my purpose.
I was just playing it safe. Not flying too high.
Then I decided to stop being a “cog in the wheel” as Seth puts it, and to become an artist. That was the beginning of a long, scary, and ultimately fulfilling journey to discover my art.
As Seth says in the book, and as I experienced in my own journey, art is not about a painting. It’s not even a medium, like dance or music or finance. Art is more about an approach or an attitude, towards being more conscious of what we are bringing to our work, and in fact, to everything we care about doing.
This is a book about committing to do work that is personal, that requires guts, and that has the potential to change everything. Art is the act of a human being doing generous work, creating something for the first time, touching another person.
It’s a book about why each of us should make art – how art is what is required in our post-industrial age where scarcity and abundance have been flipped. Where high quality work is no longer scarce, and neither is competence. They are no longer enough. In the global economy we have too many choices, which means that what is scarce now is trust, connection, and surprise.
Of course, we don’t HAVE to become artists – it’s a choice. But he makes a strong case for not only re-defining art, but creating it and sharing it as well. Actually, in the re-defining of art Seth makes the distinction that art only exists when it is shared. If I write a beautiful poem but never share it, it’s not art. Art serves to touch others, so we must take the risk to share it for that to happen.
It took me awhile, but I have discovered my art – supporting others to find and live their truth – and I can say that since I made that discovery, my work and my life have flowed with much more ease and grace and synchronicity. And based on my work with my clients, I have seen that art is not only possible for everyone, it’s inevitable if we choose to allow it to happen.
Coach Yourself Challenge
How about you? Do you feel like a “cog in the wheel?” Do you want to become an artist? If you want to experiment with this concept, I invite you to join us at the Barefoot Bliss Weekend in Midland, Michigan August 2/3/4, where this is our theme this year. Here’s the event website: www.barefootblissweekend.com.
Stephanie