by Gary Powell
We all live under many different kinds of restrictions including social, familial, emotional and almost always financial. If we stumble in even beginning our artistic endeavors it is prudent advice for us all to simply start wherever we are with whatever resources we can garner.
Wherever you are is the entry point – Kabir, Musician Saint of India
In the meantime, nurture your music and career in the arts with patience and discipline with the understanding that someday someone just may stop and take your picture simply because you are so magnificently rooted.
(I stopped my car to take the photo of this magnificent Texas pecan tree while driving La Bahia Scenic Highway which is Texas FM 390 near William Penn, Texas. As far as I know, this tree was doing well even before I noticed it and it doesn’t have an agent and has never been on TV.)
All Content of Gary Powell’s Site is Licensed Under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License
.
by Gary Powell
We all live under many different kinds of restrictions including social, familial, emotional and almost always financial. If we stumble in even beginning our artistic endeavors it is prudent advice for us all to simply start wherever we are with whatever resources we can garner.
Wherever you are is the entry point – Kabir, Musician Saint of India
In the meantime, nurture your music and career in the arts with patience and discipline with the understanding that someday someone just may stop and take your picture simply because you are so magnificently rooted.
(I stopped my car to take the photo of this magnificent Texas pecan tree while driving La Bahia Scenic Highway which is Texas FM 390 near William Penn, Texas. As far as I know, this tree was doing well even before I noticed it and it doesn’t have an agent and has never been on TV.)
All Content of Gary Powell’s Site is Licensed Under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License
.
Loved this Blog Gary. Short, sweet, and straight to the point! I hope I am this rooted. I do feel as though I am. Thank you…
I LOVE it when you write this way; it is why Maybe I’m It, Maybe I’m Not, will forever be one of my favorite books. Your final sentence is priceless!
I can’t believe you saw that tree in Texas. It looks so Asian to me. Reminds me of a bonsai.
In the sage words of another excellent UTAustin prof, Raja Rao (d.), “Only the knower of the tree can know the leaf. Only the knower of the page knows the corner of the page.” With or without an agent! In my words, “I miss the pecans lying on the ground.”
I’d love to spark some conversation (and meanwhile get some advice) on the line  “someone just may stop and take your picture simply because you are so magnificently rooted.” Â
I’m getting to the point in my career where I’m growing roots, there’s plenty of time before I’m “magnificent,” if that’s even possible. Â I’m currently in a career that’s based on tradition rather than in documented training. Â Luckily I’ve found one of four schools in the USA that offers training in the field. Â However, there’s still a lot of “passing the torch” involved in my field. Â I like to compare it to a skilled craftsmen like welders, jewelers or even chefs. Â In my field we often study with people who were trained by the people before them. Â However, as the job opportunities begin to shrink I’m noticing that the torch is being passed less willingly. Â It makes sense, why would you make (or in this case teach) competition for yourself? Â
To make a performing arts comparison I think of singers, though what I’m about to say is definately not the “norm.” Â In the world of classical singing many former professional singers retire and become teachers. Â They pass on traditions that they learned from their former teachers as well as the many numerous lessons learned during their careers. Â However, there can be a lot of jealousy between a retired, or retiring, singer and the young singers that they are now teaching. Â With SOME of the talent that they work with, they see the “old them” and long to be the young singer again. Â It’s a part of human nature to be competitive. Â But if the competitiveness is misplaced into a world of malice is that ok? Â Is it a part of the tradition?
In today’s job market, with careers that rely on training via tradition, is it harder to get your roots noticed?
Gary,
I love this post for its simplicity and reminds me how beautiful simplicity can be. We can always dream of where we’d like to be one day, always answering the question of where we see ourselves in ten years, but nothing is more important than where we are now. I couldn’t agree more that we all have restrictions in many different forms, but wherever we happen to be at any given point in time, we have to start and with whatever resources we have.
In my own life, I have many financial restrictions as the result of being student; however, I see many opportunities and doors opening in light of that. I am surrounded by so many resources, we all are, we just have to look for those resources and odds are they are standing right in front of us.
Starting can be so hard, and I think is the most important step. Starting an endeavor can be scary for fear of not knowing where it will end up, but then I see that as a beautiful thing. Breaking out of this box that we form around ourselves could be the best decision and favor we could ever do for ourselves, we just have to take that first step.