I hear it all the time from my self-proclaimed “non-artsy” friends: “Deb, you gotta admit - a life in the arts is really ‘hard.’ You wouldn’t want your kid to have a hard life like that.” To which I counter, “Well maybe, but a life in the arts you love isn’t as hard as spending your life doing something you don’t love. That’s the harder path by a long stretch.”
So it was with great joy that I caught a very short, but important Oscar speech this week. The recipient was Michael Giacchino, who delivered this gem upon winning the 2010 Academy Award for Best Original Score in a motion picture for his incredible work on the animated Disney/Pixar film UP (which also won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.)
Find more videos like this on Soundtrack Fans Thanks to Short Film Texas for the clip.
BELIEF STARTS EARLY; SO DOES DOUBT
Most parents would be quick to agree that one of their top priorities is helping their kids achieve happiness in their lives. Many would also agree that self-fulfillment is an important component not only of happiness but of future success in any endeavor. And self-fulfillment stems from doing and acting upon what you believe to be authentic for yourself.
So if all that holds true, why do I keep bumping up against well-intentioned adults fretting over (and derailing) the futures of their creative kids? As one friend/parent of a gifted budding photographer told me: “my husband is still lamenting we didn’t give birth to an engineering type.”
Why the fear? In my observations, young creative people are among the most self-aware, self-directed and (at birth) self-confident kids around. These kids who can draw and sculpt and compose music are the people who will hold huge value in the future precisely because they have the ability to see beyond what “is” and into what “could be.” Innovators? Entrepreneurs? Visionaries? I think so.
Why is the kid who is good in English or science (yet vague on their future plans) sent happily off to find themselves in the liberal arts while the kid who presents as gifted musically or artistically is told those passions are “just a hobby” which will ‘lead nowhere?’ Why do we talk the artist out of the artistic kid but not the language out of the English-fueled kid?
I’d like us to move beyond some of the stereotypical oversimplifications (e.g. they’ll be a starving artist painting alone in the dark) of what a creative life looks like; and into a more enlightened stance that sees the broader positive implications of having a creative mind.
We need to help these kids frame their artistic abilities in a context broader than simply “I play piano” or “I like to draw.” We need to teach them that the important thing is to be true to who they are, and to know that there are tons of opportunities being who they are within certain creative “hives” (which we grownups refer to as ‘industries’). We should encourage them to explore not just their specific talents, but how those talents might be applied within the hive they love. It might be working in marketing at an indie label, or running a gallery or a non-profit arts organization - they don’t have to know that yet - they just need to know how important it is to find and work with people who think like - and believe in the things - they do.
The creative kids who get unbridled, clear-eyed support and encouragement about their natural abilities from their parents and support system are the ones who will - like Giacchino - ultimately succeed. They succeed not just because they have talent, but because from a very early age they got the message that it was OK to be who they are. To believe in the power of being creative.
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How about you? Did you get the nod and unwavering encouragement, or the skeptics’ advice to head to “safer” ground outside of your passion? Love to hear your story.
Find more videos like this on Soundtrack Fans Thanks to Short Film Texas for the clip.
3 Comments
Deb, this was incredibly moving. I am about to graduate with my creative writing M.F.A. and STILL have people telling me that this world doesn’t value art, that in this economy, there will be nothing for me to contribute other than to set up a cardboard box on the side of the road. And it’s true - we’ve got it harder than the people who choose career tracks with guaranteed upward mobility and specific jobs titles. But you are exactly right - regardless of what a person, and especially a child, wants to do, nobody has the right to take that away from them. Art, literature, and film have changed the world - where would we be without it? I Facebook’d this to all my fellow writers and will be following your twitter page - you are doing something very moving and honorable for those of us who feel marginalized because of our talents.
Kori, thanks so much for your comment. It’s great to hear that my thinking resonates out there. I am so passionate about this topic, I’m thinking I may write a book to help parents nurture and encourage their creative kids…it really is a rethink in how we approach the creative potential in someone and put it in a broader context - and it needs to happen by the time kids are in 8th grade, when they (often) start getting the discouraging messages. Just remember, stick with your tribe and don’t listen to the naysayers. Keep in touch, and all best.
Hi Deb! Saw your tweet and read this. We’ve gotten so into results and categorization and charts and test scores in our society we’ve lost sight of process - I think when people say “waste of time” they really mean “this takes too long to get some result that I understand.” They forget of course that there IS no result without a process. What the arts teach is how to bring yourself to a process and stick with it… regardless of what “industry” you end up in. The notion of the starving artist is totally out of date in the age of Avatar and Cars and The Simpsons and Harry Potter… not to mention the creativity it takes to pursue any dream or reach a high level in anything. So thanks for posting this - we’ve got some unraveling to do of this kind of stereotype!
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