Unfortunately in this day and age artists are too fixated on how many friends they have on Facebook and how many followers they have on Instagram.
And too many artists are worried about fame and money.
Even non-artists are worried about this.
You have to ask yourself a very truthful question…
‘Why did you get into your art?’
My answer is simple: to tell my own truth!
If you are not willing to get knee deep in the shit for your art and giving it to the right people and putting it in the right places; YOU’RE FUCKED!
Don’t worry about friends, don’t worry about followers…
Worry about the literary magazines, the publishers, the radio stations, the film festivals and the fucking lit up mics on those empty stages.
This is where you will excel!
If all you want is to be famous and wealthy from your craft; you’re also fucked!
If you are in it to have artistic merit, individual style, to find your own truth and to share this in the right places, then you are definitely on the right path!
If you are struggling to find this (I know I was at a time) keep walking the Way, because it is not very, very far away… BELIEVE ME!
The more you keep digging into yourself, the greater the joy you will get out of it and the more truth you will find out about yourself & your craft.
Everyone starts out weak!
But like that old saying goes that my Granda kept telling me over and over again when I was just a kid ‘practice makes perfect!’
The more you give to your art the more it will give back to you.
Be open and honest with your craft.
Give it the angels, but don’t be afraid to lay out the demons.
Give every part of you a voice.
Even when they start kicking and screaming at you to leave them alone…
Do it anyway!
So, going back to friends and followers…
It is great to connect with an audience but… it has to be the right audience!
That’s basically all I’m trying to say.
I want to say it again… ‘THE RIGHT AUDIENCE’
You can simply keep it to yourself, like sitting there in your bedroom totally naked looking at the moon after finish off a fine piece.
Or you can simply share it with family and friends and girlfriends.
Maybe with your family and partners – I would keep it sweet.
But, with your friends keep it funny and whimsical ha ha…
But when you want to push it out into the world: find everything out about the print side of it, the recording side of it, the filming and the performing and find out how to share it with these people so it is being pushed out there.
Like I said before ‘the internet is a fabulous thing’
Writing is a solitary and lonely thing to be a part of.
Get used to that.
It is also full of ridicule and rejection.
Get used to that as well.
But writing is all worth it once you get a wee acceptance here and there.
But remember: the right audience…
And believe me… it is fun once you learn to not give a SHIT…
You will become stronger and so will your writing.
Also, learn to do other things outside of your writing for inspiration.
This will make a hell of a difference and more fuel for your page.
When you are truly in it: who the fuck needs friends and followers?
I want to leave you with a poem where I dug deep and left myself vulnerable so you don’t feel scared of exploring your own self!
Here it is: ‘a bad wank’
Until next time!
Love
PBJ
<3
A bad wank
I’m just after a bad wank
One that makes you
Sad
Guilty
Shameful
Like reading about a friend’s death
I was trying to capture that good wank again
From a few days ago
Most people wank to go to sleep
I wake up
It’s a revolution to me
No matter how good or bad
I might question my humanity
In a bad one like tonight
And the passing of my poetic connoisseur
But when that good one comes along again
It is frightening how good of a person I truly am
And how nice it is to know me
And how nice it was to know him
And how much more he captured life
More than this
And more than me
In a one off experience