To Be Seen
To Be Seen
Why do artists perform in front of a crowd? Why do people show their creations at a guild Show and Tell or at a craft fair or art gallery? Why do I display my furniture or write my stories or talk in front of a group of people?
It’s very simple. We want to be seen. To be acknowledged. We need to leave a mark. Some expression of ourself, a painting on the cave wall, a handprint.
Fame is not the same game. That fame stuff is for the ego driven or for money or for the empty promises of Forever. Fame leaves in a hurry on the next scooter looking for the latest greatest sensation. Fame fizzles out fast now in our world of the fatuous and furious. Fifty years ago Time magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ was King Faisul. Year before him, John Sirica.
I rest my case.
No matter. We still want to be seen or read or heard. And so we create things to leave an account, a record, a footprint behind. From our first cry as a baby to the time we give it our last shout or murmur, we want someone to acknowledge us. Yes I see you.
This is a powerful phrase. To be seen for what we are attempting to do. To know that our voices do not fall like leaves into the quiet of a dark and forgotten forest. That someone will acknowledge us.
Therefore if we accept our One Hit Wonder status as the state of things, what’s our one hit to be? This is the decision of a lifetime. What will I do with my time so that I create something that I think has value? So that someone will think of me with pride or gratitude or admiration? Or so that at least one of the three drunks who show up at my funeral will know how to pronounce my name right.
It can’t be we’re working just for the money. That may come from creative work if you do something very well, if you’re smart about marketing or finally if you live long enough. It takes many people a whole lifetime to be discovered overnight.
But many people work for nothing so they can strum their music or dance to it or read their poetry out loud to six over-caffeinated listeners in a coffee house. You think those folks you see playing music in the subways do it because they can’t figure out where else to go or what else to do? They want to be heard. Here is my skill, they cry out. Here is my passion, they offer. Here is my life open like a book before you. Do you see me?
We want the world to know that we’re here. To know that the creation of our head, our hearts, our hands will be seen. And what if the whole world doesn’t know about me. That’s okay. This is what I do. I’m proud of it.
It is an effort to create objects of Quality in a throw away world. It is a commitment to the idea of Value in the work surrounded by a culture of price consciousness. It is an unceasing desire to do my best.
Do good work. Leave a mark behind that shows that you were here and cared.
Our podcast is called Creativity: Hustlers, Fakers, and Thieves. Please check out the first nine episodes. In each there is a unifying topic like Value or Lyricism or Failure and I discuss this concept with an artist. The list of artists range from a composer to a playwright to a French marquetry expert. Their ideas on the challenges that face each of us who do creative work are fascinating. Subscribers can join the conversation at https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/2950434.rss.
Thanks for reading.