Is making art, in essence, a selfish act, or is it a generous act in that we are taking something of ourselves and putting it out into the world for others to enjoy? As it turns out it’s both and more.
Come join me for this discussion of the role of generosity in our work, both for ourselves and others, the surprising way art encourages generosity in society, and some thoughtful views on how to adjust your ideas of selfishness to open ourself up to a more magnanimous and generous creative process.
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CREDITS:
Cover design by Sage; Illustration by Olga Kostenko
Heart Pin by Ron Lehocky
Music by Playsound
Transcript
Transcript
I think most of us do feel that art has the potential to be very powerful. But how many of? Us have thought about the fact that we can help people be more generous and less self-centered with what we create. Just kind of mind point. Hello all my wonderfully kind and generous creatives out there. Thank you for joining me on the Sage Arts podcast. This is sage. We are going to be doing something a little different than I originally planned. Actually, I had a whole other thing written up, but then I started having all these conversations with various people, especially the artistic and creative. People in my. Life’s about the idea of generosity. I think it’s. Just a lot going on in the world and we feel like we should be helping out like the things in Maui. I have very good friends in Maui and then there’s just other things going on in the world. The fires in Canada and I have various friends who are going through some really hard times, losing family members and losing pets and just. All kinds of things we feel like you really want to reach out and help other people. And so the idea of charity and generosity amongst artistic people around me just seems to be really prevalent and popping up in my conversation. A lot and it got me thinking about what does that mean as an artist, to be generous and to be charitable because in a lot of ways art can feel very indulgent and self-serving. I mean, a lot of us create art. Because we have to, we are self. Motivated to do the work. There are not people out there. Saying hey, we need this. From you, we need this artwork from you and to some extent you’re our fans do kind of, you know, wave and keep us going. But The thing is, we would be willing to. Do what we do. Whether people want it or not, right? So it’s not that direct kind of people saying we need this from you like we need help rebuilding our community or we need help leading our financial needs or getting food on the table or getting mental or emotional support. Those things can be very directly asked for. Of course. People want to have beauty in their lives and they want to have interesting and thought provoking experiences. And the objects that encourage those thoughts and experiences, but is making art, in essence a selfish act. Or is it? A generous act and that we are taking something of ourselves and putting it out into the world for others to enjoy. So with everything going on, I. Thought I could do. A kind of shortish, interesting contemplation of these viewpoints and just give you the opportunity to look at how you create art and what that means for the people that it reaches and the betterment of our world in general. So let’s get a tiny bit of business out of the way really quick. It’s been a little quiet. On social media and the various areas through which I connect with you, but if you want to send me stories and comments, I really do want to. Hear from you. So I’ve been a little quiet, so I think everybody else has been. A little quiet. Hopefully we’ll get that changed sometime soon. But if there’s something that you’ve been wanting to tell me, please reach out at the sagearts.com website. There’s a contact page there, or you can reply to the newsletter that I send out. If you haven’t signed up for the newsletter, you can find it on the homepage of the say it’s arts.com. Just look for the news and noticed this button. You can also touch base with me on social media, on Instagram or Facebook. On the Sage Arts podcast pages, and if you get a lot out of what I’m doing and you want to give back, there are donation buttons on the homepage of the sagearts.com. Just Scroll down a little bit to find them. OK, so let’s get into the conversation. I’m going to start with some background on my viewpoint of generosity. In terms of my own art making and the kind of struggles I’ve kind of had with the idea of whether I am being selfish or selfless in the act of creating it might help to know that I was raised Catholic. Which some of you might nothing is relevant but the stereotypical commentary about guilt ridden Catholics. It has some roots in the truth. I was raised with kind of a lot of ideas around what I should or shouldn’t do, and that resulted in feelings of guilt when I wasn’t being selfless, and this worked itself into my artwork and kind of worked itself and everything. So that’s just one of the areas where I kind. Of have to combat that a bit.
I guess you could say I have.
A complicated relationship with the idea of being. Selfless now, when it comes to art for. Well, I cannot not create things. It is virtually impossible. For me to. Not take the things that are in my head and. Put them out. Into the world pretty much every day. I’m taking something out of head and put it into the world and I don’t always do it with other people in mind, especially things like my photography or my painting or my poetry. I just have to do it and. Yes, it’s good. That I don’t have other people in mind while I’m creating those things, because thinking of other people, whether it’s in a generous capacity about like how I might be able to to bring this to them and make them happy, having other people in mind causes you to think of what other people will think of your work and that potential judgment can cause you to do something differently than you. You would have with your work if you were just creating without that kind of outside influence. So yeah, I do the artwork because I’m driven to do it, but doesn’t that make me selfish? Is there a lack of consideration for my fellow man in the creative drive that I have? Because I don’t think about people want to make it because I just do it for me. I have to say that when I was a full time artist, I often did feel like I wasn’t doing enough for the rest of the world. Not being charitable in the way that I was raised because. Not only did. I love doing the. I was doing it to. Sell in order to pay bills, so it all felt very self-serving. But as a working artist. You don’t have much in the way of spare hours, much less spare money to be charitable through donations or volunteering and all. Kind of thing. So there were times when I felt like I wasn’t fulfilling that part of me that needs to help other people. And although I think it was part Catholic upbringing, it is actually a pretty inherent part of me that I need to help others a couple years back, when I tried to just write my books and work on my artwork. And my photograph. I became severely depressed because I was only doing the stuff that I wanted to do, fulfilling the dreams that I had in most of my previous adult life. I was always doing something that helped other people or that I felt helped other people before I did. The magazine I helped out in a lot of events and I was doing volunteering at these events, especially ones that raise money for kids or animals. I even had my own event business and then when I started doing the publications, I felt like I was helping people grow themselves as artists and find more joy in their creativity. So that met that need for me to be helping and to be adding to the betterment of. The world now, when all of a sudden I was not doing anything but fulfilling my own dreams and desires, and I wasn’t volunteering and I wasn’t getting out in a way that directly benefited other people, at least in my mind. I had a very hard time with it and. As a result. I actually did this podcast where I feel like. Now I am helping people again, through encouragement and inspiration. And hopefully thought. Provoking concepts to help make you artists more confident and successful in whatever way you measure success. And to be honest, sometimes I feel like I do this podcast for me. And then when I ask for donations to help keep it financially viable, I do feel weird because I need to be. Doing this thing. I need to be connected and I feel like I’m offering something to help others and that feeds me back. I want to contribute to the world and the betterment of people’s lives, not just be working on the betterment of my own life now. That’s just me. It’s not a judgment call on anyone else’s approach, but if I was able to just work on my own artwork and my writings and the things that I. Want to do without? Getting depressed? Would that then be selfish and uncharitable? Well, I thought a lot about this the last few days, and personally I think no one can define selfishness or selflessness with any common set of rules. And that’s because they’re just really so many different ways to define generosity with some of them being very direct, others being very indirect. And then there’s this. The whole range in between and what it comes down to is that we need to define. That for ourselves. What it means to us and how it helps ensure that we are taking care of ourselves while helping others. So it’s not. A simple judgment call on whether any one thing that we do is selfish in the negative sense. And I don’t think of selfishness in and of itself as a bad thing, since we have to take care of ourselves in order to be able to take care of others. Nor do I think that it’s fair for others to judge whether what we’re doing is generous or not. We simply need to find the level of generosity and self-care that is supportive of our world and ourselves. So what about making art just because you? Want to make art? Is that? I have to say, I think there’s an inherent sense that art should be generous, and I’m not exactly sure why. So I think if we do feel like what we’re doing is just for ourselves and we’re not being generous, we may actually feel bad about doing our work sometimes. Well, here’s where I think the problem with that may come from. Maybe people seem to think. Not everybody, but there’s a number of people who think that the information when it comes to art, you know, like art instruction and the sharing of techniques should be freely. I don’t understand why people think like that. Why is the work that an artist puts into developing the technique and becoming skilled enough to teach what they do not valued in the same way that education and advice from a? Doctor or a lawyer or. An accountant is, or a teacher or a. Tutor. You know any of? That stuff? Sure, a lot of artists. Are very generous with their knowledge and their time, and I’ve actually gotten comments from people, especially when I was doing the magazine that. Art instructions should be free, and that art shouldn’t be something that people have to pay for in order to do it. So yeah, I think there is this kind of expected generosity within art from some. People now, the fact is, you never have to pay to. Learn art, right? You can do what most artists have done down. The years which is. To just muck around the materials and. Figure it out. What you’re getting from an artist and what you’re paying for when they ask you to pay for the the instructions that they have, is a shortcut to that learning, because they’ve already put in all the time and. Hard work to figure it out. And yes, there is a lot of free material out there, but the vast majority. Of it is actually bait to get you. To buy something else so that those. Artists can make a. Living just like the rest of. Us who make a living. Off of whatever that we do. We all need to get a paycheck, including the artist, and yet there is this persevering idea that artists should be generous. With their knowledge and give it away for free, I think that may be in part why the idea of generosity and art seems to be intertwined to some extent. Maybe it’s a small part of it and I don’t know. I think at its essence, though, artists are a very charitable lot. I don’t know if something about. Creativity and the joy that we get from what? We do is part of that. But most artists I know like to share, like to support and like to help others. Just please don’t expect any artist to give you something for free just because it’s art related. And if someone is really helping you out, help them out by buying their products or doing whatever it is to support them so they can continue to help you and help others. Now, what about just the act of making art? Well, I think the making of art that is shared with other people is an immense act of generosity because it is giving of yourself. There’s a risk and. A lot of courage that it takes to actually. Put art together. And once you’ve done that, you’ve put something of yourself. Out into the world. It’s true. Sometimes we sell it and benefit from that kind of sharing through financial trade, but many of those funds are just essentially something that enables us to continue doing the thing that we love so that we can turn around again and share it. So it’s a complete circle and honestly, I think as far as generosity and charitableness, it’s always a circle because we give. And in that process we also receive, I once heard someone say that Mother Teresa wasn’t actually selfless because she did what she did because she wanted to do it, or that it made her feel good or not guilty or something. I don’t remember the exact words, but it. Basically what they’re saying is true, and I’m not trying to be controversial with that comment or sacrilegious or whatever. It’s just there is a concept of we get back from being charitable, not just give. Most of us. Do charitable acts not just because it’s the right thing, not just because our empathy for other people drives us to do something that will make their lives better, to make them happier, or to take away the pain that we see, but because it also makes us happy to do so. It makes us feel good about ourselves and about our actions and the happiness or relief that the people who receive our generosity. Show or that we imagine that they have. Helps us deal with our own tragedies and our own pain and our own view of a world that can be kind of difficult sometimes. Because being generous and putting out the kind of positivity and help into the world helps us color the world in more than just our memories of difficulties and struggles. Hopefully we all. Have really wonderful, happy memories that we can always. Turn to. But if you just. Listen to the news and get information from those dramatic outlets that we have on social media and videos and whatnot. You would think that the world is an absolutely crummy place with people falling apart. The world is ending. Everyone’s arguing and fighting with each other. So if we spend time being charitable and helpful and positive and supportive. We add that positivity and goodness to the overall picture of the world we see. So of course, when this subject matter started rolling around in my head, I had to go see if there were other considerations about generosity and art that maybe we wouldn’t necessarily think of, maybe something that I’d never heard of before because it’s always out there and you just once you find it like, Oh my gosh, how did I not know? Well, I did find. Exactly that kind of thing. There was this study on kids and what they did is. They exposed kids to art. And when they did, it increased their generosity. Apparently, the feeling of awe inspired by great art can be a humbling experience for a lot of kids, and in turn, that encourages them to help others rather than focusing on what they want. As stated in. Psychological science, where the paper was published on the study. They wrote that. In encounters with vast mysteries, AH, makes individuals feel small, humble, and less entitled, thereby shifting their attention towards the needs and concerns of others rather than the self. And then they also wrote that, AH, as an aesthetic and moral emotion helps societies flourish by making children more. How cool is that? It’s just that’s so awesome. And I don’t mean that in a funny way about the whole on inspiring thing. I think most of us do feel that art has the potential to be very powerful, but how many of us have thought about the fact that we can help people be more generous and less self-centered with what we create? Just kind of mind-blowing to contemplate that I just, I was really excited to read that and in going down that rabbit hole of research I found out that the study with children was actually conducted because the lead author of that study for. And that the results of experiencing awe had already been extensively studied in adults, often seeing that same kind of result that the experience of awe leads them to, less self entitlement and greater generosity and kindness. And what I think that all boils down to is that there is evidence that art benefits our societies on a social level and as a whole, not just benefiting those who enjoy art or those who enjoy making art. We actually can grow better humans by being exposed to art. These studies provide concrete evidence that art has an effect on our behavior that then affects the well-being of others, and I would say the world as a whole. I do truly believe that every little tiny speck of positivity and caring and support that we throw out there will collectively make our world a better place in really big and meaningful ways. Most of the biggest changes we see anywhere are due to many little tiny efforts, so both good and bad things. So if we can make those little tiny contributions be of the positive variety, and we can do it through art, that’s amazing. And I think it aids in a much more optimistic view of the possibilities. They have for this world in that way. Now that’s about how the art positively affects our society and our world. But what about the act of making art that can feel really self involved at times? Right. Isn’t that time we spend, you know, isn’t it just indulging our need to create to have fun, to elevate ourselves by doing something more than just surviving? Isn’t that a very self involved and self-serving act that is often the kind of background nonsense that goes on in my head, so I’m assuming I’m not the only one out there that thinks that if I only do this for myself. That I’m actually. Selfish but here. One thing we need to take care of ourselves to take care of other people. If we can be happier people by creating if we can feel more fulfilled and content we are going to have more room and more energy in our lives to help others and support others when they need it. We absolutely need to have things in our lives that give us joy and make us feel fulfilled. That’s never a selfish thing. It’s a necessary thing, and if you’re doing that, then you can be a better person. For other people who need your help when they. Not only that, as already mentioned, work that you make adds to the wonder and beauty and fantastical nature and possibilities of our world, and we absolutely need that. We actually need lots of that. Now, sometimes I’m on social. Media or otherwise exposed to a lot of art by a lot of different people. And it can. Be overwhelming. People are out there making things like crazy, showing them off like crazy. It just seems like there’s so much art out there and I have to say knowing that people are indulging, if you will, and recognizing their need to be creative does really make me happy because I do believe it’s such an essential part of being human to create and put something out into the world that didn’t exist before. But it’s part of you. And with social media as an outlet, it’s good in the sense that it helps give all these creative people purpose a goal for what they can do with the work that they make, even if they don’t want to directly sell it. And knowing that they can readily share what they’re doing, getting that feedback and the responses and making connections through that. And if they want, if they. Hand those sell their work through it and that will help fund the continuation of their artistic endeavor. So that’s all fantastic. But there is a part of me and I’ve heard this from other artists and creatives that there is so much out there that you have to wonder, what’s the point of adding to all of this noise. Why make art when other people are making similar things? Why take photographs of the same things that other people are? Taking photographs of. Why write a book that has a? Story that’s basically been told a dozen times. For I think sometimes we get lost in the idea that we have to be truly innovative, make something completely different than has ever been created before, because if we’re just making things that have been made before, what are we adding to the body of art and creative works that belong to the human race? In general, basically, what’s the point of doing something when it’s been done before? Well, let me answer that question with one simple statement. It’s never been done before. If you’ve never done it before. The combination of you and your life experiences and your skills and your style, along with the creation of these images that may have been made by other people before, becomes a completely different thing, even if it visually looks similar, because it’s in your hands. Because now you have your story. Embedded in the background of that artistic. Piece. So unless you’re directly copying someone else’s work, you are making decisions about the creation of your pieces. It’s going to produce something of you that no one else will ever create the same way from the same place it’s coming from for you from that same soul, right? So sure. If hundreds of thousands of people are painting. Of hours you might have a lot of competition if you’re trying to sell those paintings of flowers. But you know what? There’s a reason why so many people are painting flowers because they’re beautiful and inspiring, and people are drawn to them. Now I’m not a particularly flowery type of person, but I do truly believe that there can never be enough flower art because many, many people are flower people who get joy from flowers and appreciates the way an artist elevates them even further by memorializing them in their personal art. So it doesn’t matter if you’re doing something that was done before. It only matters that you are adding to the beauty and awe of the world and your own self fulfillment and joy. All of these things help us create a better world overall. And honestly, what can be more generous than that? If we can measure everything that we do, all the little decisions that we make by simply asking, does this make the world a better place on some level in some way, no matter how small? Can you imagine how our world would be if everybody’s aim was like that was to make every action and decision based on whether it would make the world better, whether directly or indirectly, whether through charitableness or through one’s own, nurtured and thoughtfully considered happiness? There are a lot. Of ways to be charitable and generous, and in a world where difficulties and tragedies seem to be growing exponentially, even though we live in a world that is much safer and more comfortable and provides. More beauty and. Joy than most people have had in the past. Our version of generosity, the things that we can do to make the world better. And Kinder and to provide comfort to those going through terrible and difficult times is first of all, to make our art. After everything I’ve read, I feel like we almost have a responsibility to do our part to help grow inspired, kind, and generous human beings by being sure there is plenty of artistic and creative experiences for others to have so they can become the kind of generous and open people the world needs. Now, if in addition to making art, you find that you have time and space to give in other ways, be it with time or money or support, or just making sure people know you are there for them when they need you, that’s wonderful and amazing. And consequently it’s going to feed you in ways that will in that full circle thing again. Feed your artistic self and your art. So maybe this week we can all kind of contemplate what our version of generosity is that we want to use to give back. To the world. I suppose it’s not an absolute necessity that you consciously find an outlet or to find ways for you to be generous. But as I mentioned, you get so much. From the giving. It’s really like mutually beneficial. It’s a win win. It’s a synergistic arrangement, a reciprocal act, a boomerang of kindness and positivity. Because you send that out and it. Comes right back to you. So no, you don’t have to contemplate your avenues of generosity. But I feel. Like you could be. Denying yourself a. Whole other important aspect of the human experience. If there is not an awareness and room for that kind of thing in your life, but it’s just a suggestion. OK, so does this conversation strike? A note with you. Is it something that you’ve thought about before, or have you had experiences that’s also brought you to understand about the generosity that’s inherent in art and our ability to change people’s lives in a very generous and kind? Way, I’d love to hear your stories. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this discussion. If you do try to figure out your avenues of generosity, I’d love to hear what you discover and as a kind of additional bit of generosity you can send those stories to share because other people will be inspired and gain new ideas and new insight into what they do. By your stories and your. Out. So reach out to me through the contact page at the sagearts.com or by responding to those newsletters that I mentioned, which you can sign up for on the homepage of the sagearts.com. Just look for that news and notices button or send me a message to Facebook or Instagram at the Sage Arts podcast pages. And if you. Appreciate what I’m doing for you and you would like to make one of your outlets of generosity. And just support this podcast. You can donate through the PayPal or buy me a coffee buttons found on the homepage of the sagearts.com as well as in your show note. You can also buy polymer art related books and magazines at 10th News arts.com that’s 10th spelled out. TENTH musearts.com and all those purchases also go to help support. What I do here? Another way you can help out if you so desire, is to just hit that follow button on your podcast player that you’re listening to this through that not only let you know in a new episode. Is available, but also raises the podcast up in the search rank so more people can find this podcast and join us on these conversations. Remember all these links and this information will be in. The show notes or the description. Section of wherever it is that you’re listening to this. Podcast from and with that. I’m going to. Leave you to. Make the world a better place for your creative endeavors. Be good and generous to your muse as well by feeding it with new experiences. Add to the variety and beauty of the world by being true to your weirdness, and join me again next time on the Sage Arts podcast.
