September 19, 2004
power is never given. power is taken.
Artists, both famous and unknown, spend a lot of time waiting around for “The Big Yes Moment” to arrive. The moment where they get the greenlight. The moment where the publisher, producer, whatever finally calls him/her up and goes “Yes!”
Yes! You are no longer pond scum. Welcome to the happy, shiny, Holy Order of Non-Failure. Yes! Yes!
Yes! We’re going to make your movie! Yes! We’re going to publish your novel! Yes! We’re going to give you a show!
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Go to any art opening, film screening or book launch in New York, Paris, London, Tokyo etc. The place is full of these people– artists killing time, drinking the free wine, working the room, trying to hide their fear and doubt, trying not to look desperate, trying to look like players, trying to feign relevance, trying to be as interesting and confident and amusing and networked as possible, all waiting around till their Big Yes Moment hopefully one day lands on their lap from an unknown direction. It doesn’t matter if they’re a 20-year-old art student or a 50-year-old Oscar Nominee. Their palpable unease carries the same vibe.
Some lame-ass myth exists that if you’re talented, hard working, savvy and networked enough, then one day power will be given to you.
It doesn’t happen like that. Power is never given. Power is taken.
Power comes from sovereignty.
So now you know.
First of all, you’re right. Great post. Second, the cartoon is right.
Of course, the question is: do you keep playing the game and chasing the same brass ring as everyone else, or do you remove yourself from the game and free up your resources?
It’s that chase (and the related paranoia of failure) that keeps everyone hungry, keeps the interesting ideas coming, keeps us pushing each other. When the time comes that you realize it’s all a sham, 100%, then you remove yourself from the playing field, enjoy your newfound zen life and make room for a new participant to take your place.
Life and death? Or the corporate business structure?
It’s a subtle difference, but I think power is claimed as opposed to your statement that power is taken.
Nah. It’s taken
Hmmm, if the fucker doesn’t cost you your life, it isn’t a quest.
You have to “die” to past history, to whoever you thought you were, whatever you clung to as a security blanket. And keep “dying” every moment. Few are willing to give up the known no matter how miserable it is — hey, that misery, mediocrity feel like identity — and are afraid to “give up” nothing for everything, darkness for light. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave comes to mind.
Preempting my post for tomorrow:
“Always we hope someone else has the answer.
Some other place will be better,
some other time it will all turn out.
This is it.
No one else has the answer.
No other place will be better,
and it has already turned out.” — Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
Tom Peters quoted from AA the most profound thing in that tomato post: Radical change takes a Minute.
And on another level, I just heard Marianne Williamson today and she quoted MLK Jr.: “And I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
I know that it’s too easy to say power is never given to you, you just take it. That didn’t mean a hill of beans to me a few years ago…sure I understood it intellectually but whole other matter putting it to practice. No one talks about the practicing.
Yep, it does mean dying — at least metaphorically.
Hugh, what’s your definition of “power”, John Lennon or Madonna? Picasso or Warhol? My own definition would imply the formers in each case had power, the latters were opportunists, although there’s a fine line. There’s a lot of money and press in being a cultural phenomenon. Does your definition encompass creating a legacy?
I would say that the newly powerful by necessity has to bite the hand that fed it, so I believe I agree with you.
Much as I’d like to subscribe to a romantic notion that an outsider can change things, I believe that all meaningful change comes from the inside. You need to know the moving parts to know which needs oil and which can be bypassed.
So yes, power must be taken. But prior to that, the opportunity to take power must have been designed and created.
I agree with you, for the most part, but also wanted to add that your vision of success really plays into your concept of success. I know a few really talented people who have taken the plunge and self-published their books. The work ended up receiving recognition and awards, which is really great for them, but more importantly, they had a vision of reaching specific audiences that they believed would be positively affected by the work. That was enough for them.
I think that no matter how gregarious you are about you work, if your main motivation is fame and you’re not blessed with the right genetics and eccentricity, you are not likely to achieve that goal.
I think there is a difference between the those driven by the spotlight and those driven by their craft. Not that the two shall never meet, but am one who would rather have my teeth pulled than call Madonna an artist.