The Pearls of the Artists
Reflection #65: Do not cast them before the swine
We – the writers, the deep thinkers, the philosophers, the magicians, the alchemists, The Artists – only want readers and followers who can think for themselves.
Let the rest of the world have the multitudinous Nietzschean "last men" – those who follow the party line, those who believe what the media gaslights them into believing, those who think they get to decide what speech is acceptable and what is not, and those who dare to call out The Artists for having the courage to shine the divine Light of Truth upon the things that terrify their tiny undeveloped and repressed cowardly souls; for it is The Artists (and the mystics) who shine a flashlight into the dark corners that terrify most people. It is The Artists who journey into the depths of The Mystery that most people spend their days trying to avoid.
Life grows. And we are here to grow. And most especially we are here to grow our souls through creativity, through human ingenuity, and through inspiration. Maximum growth and harmony requires maximum freedom. So, if you fall into the camp, that dares to restrict the freedom of others; to restrict what The Artists may say or not say, then, please, feel free to click the unsubscribe button; for we, The Artists, do not wish to cast our pearls before the swine.
“Alas, the time of the most despicable man is coming,
he that is no longer able to despise himself.
Behold, I show you the last man.
'What is love? What is creation? What is longing? What is a star?'
—thus asks the last man, and he blinks.
The earth has become smaller,
and on it hops the man who makes everything small...
'We have invented happiness'
—say the last men, and they blink.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Posts referenced in this Reflection:
Ignoring Your Daemon Unleashes a Demon
How to Grow Humanity’s Creativity
Everything written in this post (and all my posts) is written 100% by me, Clintavo, a flesh and blood human seeking to grow my soul and come home my truest self; for that is the essence of creativity. I do not use AI to assist me with writing — that would deny me the very growth of my world through writing that I seek. I do use AI to create relevant images to go with my writing as the images are orthogonal to the writing itself and I am not an illustrator.
I am now 80 years young. Before COVID I had my own studio/ gallery in New Mexico. One day I looked at all my work hanging in the gallery and had an epiphany. None of it was me! It was my work, painted by me, yet none of it was me. All of it was painted for everyone in my life or clients.
I made a decision I had to paint something of me and for me, without concern for what anyone else would think or say. I had a subject that concerned me all my life and never acted on it.
So, I thought and sketched for a few days and came up with a concept. A way to paint my thoughts. My feelings. The problem was it was it had to be in completely different style than I was used to painting for it to work.
Long story short - I painted a show called “ Stolen Culture” 24 new large paintings in a style I
conceived. The idea was to paint the native past and bring it into the present day.
After teaching, I closed the studio and worked, sometimes through the night. In the end, I had accomplished something I feared no one would like. And maybe I could be ridiculed for.
I was born in Brooklyn NY of Italian heritage. I created works of native Americans I had loved and studied and read about. It had no actual contact. These were not glorified images I had grown up with. These had to be real people. Not storybook characters. Or movie Indians.
Again, to shorten this saga, the show opened and to my amazement and surprise people accepted it. Reviews were good. Native people came and complimented me. They thanked me for portraying them as they were. The images moved them. Then COVID hit.
But from this show, my life changed and my subject matter changed. The way I paint changed.
I now think much less of what people may thinker my work. It pleases me. It is more ‘me’ than ever. This is enough.
I agree with you but with a caveat. To say that people should have the freedom to say whatever they want does not mean that people should say whatever they want. Many years ago a guy at school made jokes about me and my illness when I was very sick simply because I would not go out with him. I could barely walk and didn't have the strength to defend myself. He was a bully and a putz but no one told him to stop. I don't want a law to govern what can be said and I have a problem with the cancel culture but sometimes people need the courage to speak up and say, "Hey man, that's not cool," when they hear something really inappropriate.