by Marty Coleman | Sep 25, 2010 | Free Will - 2010, Thomas Fuller |
Day #5 of ‘Free Will’ week at The Napkin Dad Daily
We all desire to do great things. But we can all get carried away by the desire and then find we lack the capability or resources to do that which we are so excited about.
When I first moved to Tulsa I worked in a small start up company making educational software (CD-Roms) for children. But to get the job I had to start at the bottom. The very bottom. I scanned hundreds of line drawings for animations. That is all I did. I would clean them up in the computer and off they would go to the animator. I was virtually unskilled labor at that point.
But I also had 20 years experience as an artist, 9 years experience as an art teacher and 14 years experience as a restaurant manager in a high stress, high volume restaurant. I had moved to Tulsa to take this job, taking a pay cut with the hopes that it would lead to a great opportunity in this new field.
I also had no fear. So, when the question was asked at a staff meeting who might like to learn the animation software (Macromedia Director) to help out I wanted to jump up and say ME! But the lead illustrator, senior to me by a long shot, had the first pick to do it. But he was used to drawing by hand and just wanted to keep doing that and working a bit in Photoshop. He said it would be a hassle to learn.
When he said no, I said yes.
Within a year and a half the animator, the art director, and the producer all either left the company or were let go. Guess who moved up into each of those positions? I did. And, more importantly, I succeeded in those positions. And it all started with me saying yes.
The lead illustrator, a negative bully, quit and went back to home construction, blaming our management for him not being able to go anywhere with his career.
So, my point is that the above quote, while true, is never to be used as an excuse. If you have the desire then of course you need to be honest about your capabilities. But not having full capabilities doesn’t mean you have NO capabilities. Your power is greater than you think and is most likely able to back up your will, if you will let it.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Thomas Fuller, 1608-1661, English churchman, historian and writer
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 23, 2010 | Arthur Schopenhauer, Free Will - 2010, Kim Baker, Thomas Shahan |
Day #4 of ‘Free Will’ week at The Napkin Dad Daily
Wow, what a dilemma this quote brings up. Does it mean we are not personally responsible since we can’t determine what we ‘will’? Does it mean we are destined by our genes, our DNA and parents, our heritage from centuries and millennia long past? What is in our control if that be the case?
The quote made me think about the photo lecture I was in charge of last night. We had a guest lecturer for our photo group. She is a landscape photographer here in Oklahoma, Kim Baker. What we got out of her lecture was one thing: Passion. She is passionate about the rivers of Oklahoma. She traipses through the most incredibly difficult terrain to camp out the night before, often by herself, so she can get up at 4-5 AM and capture the light, mist, dew, and atmosphere around the river before and as the sun rises. She ‘wills’ to do those things.
Two months before that lecture we had another guest, this one was into macro photography. He was photographing flies, insects and spiders of Oklahoma. Some have never been photographed in detail, ever. He is getting famous for his ability to capture them. To do so he has to do much the same as Kim. He goes out in the middle of nowhere and sits still in the dirt or brush or trees. He waits. Sometimes for hours. He has one successful photo out of perhaps 100 taken usually. He does it because he has one thing: Passion.
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| © 2010 Thomas Shahan |
The will is strong when there is passion behind it. Why we have the will is an interesting question. But it is basically about science or God or whatever else you can intellectually think about. But why we have it is not as important as if we exploit it. Do you ACT on that passion or do you just wish about it?
If you want to contribute to the world, you must ACT on your passion, not just think about it.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Arthur Schopenhauer, 1788-1860, German philosopher
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 22, 2010 | Free Will - 2010, Jawaharlal Nehru |
Day #3 of ‘Free Will’ week at The Napkin Dad Daily
Here is the interesting part. What about when you KNOW the cards you are being dealt? They are showing face up. Think about your school, spouse, job, house, car, city, clothing, hair style and more. You know and see all those things up front. You pick them with the most information you can have. You pick them of your own free will. And then? And then, you have to pick another card, and get rid of one or two. Then you have to combine them with other players’ cards. Then you have to fold and start over. Then you get a straight flush only to find out you aren’t playing a game where flushes mean anything.
Life is like a game of cards. Multiple games with many different rules. Playing isn’t easy, winning isn’t easy. But not playing, not taking the card, not making a decision is worse than playing and losing.
Play.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Jawaharlal Nehru, 1889-1964, Indian Statesman (Prime Minister 1947-1964)
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| Jawaharlal Nehru in a Nehru jacket |
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 21, 2010 | Art, Free Will - 2010, Willem de Kooning |
Day #2 of Free Will week at The Napkin Dad Daily
I taught college level drawing for 9 years back in the 80s and 90s. My first question to my students was this: What is the job description of an artist?
I always got a number of interesting answers, and I didn’t consider any of them wrong. But I had my own answer as well. It is this: To do whatever they want to do.
It sounds like I am being flippant, but I am completely serious about it. An artist is the one entity in the human world whose sole job it is to do whatever they want to do. It is what being an artist is all about. My contribution to the world is just that. The society I am in has asked the artists that inhabit it to be free. It’s asked me to give them my vision, not someone else’s. I have been ‘hired’ by the world to express whatever it is I feel like expressing. If I take on the job of artist, then that is my job description.
By the way, I am not talking about commercial artists who are hired to fulfill someone else’s vision. That is a completely legitimate thing and I often do that. I am talking about ‘fine’ artists whose is not hired by others, but does something then may or may not find a person willing to show it, buy it, publicize it, etc. All that comes after not before the creation in other words.
If this were a quote I made up I would have used the word ‘commanded’ instead of ‘forced’ but you get the idea.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Willem de Kooning, 1904-1997, Dutch born American painter, (one of the leaders of the Abstract Expressionist style)
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| Willem de Kooning – 1949, untitled |
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 20, 2010 | Free Will - 2010 |
I think I will have a ‘Free Will’ week here at the Napkin Dad Daily. That is of course unless fate intervenes.
I believe in free will.
I believe in fate.
I believe in controlling my own destiny.
I believe in universal forces beyond my control.
I believe I have the power to choose.
I believe I am sometimes powerless to choose.
I believe mistakes are just that.
I believe mistakes are meant to be.
In other words, I believe both are true. What about you, what do you believe about free will?
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Hal Lee Luyah
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