I am
intrigued by the notion of business in congruence with art. The idea seems that
one loses their soul as an artist when the commercial aspect is adhered to in
any way. I myself try to find a balance of feeding my family and myself, as
well as maintaining fulfillment as an artist and human being. Is there any sort
of oneness to this notion? Do we ultimately have to sacrifice one for the
other? My deep avante garde jazz pals hate the notion of working commercially.
“Selling out” if you will. The typical commercial musician sees very little
fulfillment in living a life of playing music underpaid and underappreciated.
Some believe the lines between the two really do not exist, but ultimately live
double lives, saying one thing to one group and another thing to the other. How
do we find the oneness?
In
my yearly retreat to Vermont, not only am I overwhelmed with the beauty of the
woods and cheeses (even though I am lactose intolerant), I find that the way
local business is conducted in an inspiring manner. Perhaps it is what our
nations fathers had in mind for a free market, and a free way of life- being
that it is New England and pretty much the birthplace of Capitalism. A word a
lot of us are growing to believe is only evil. There is a toy/jewelry shop we
visit yearly. What is special to us about this shop is the amount of personal
touch and care the owner has put into it. From the choice of toys and jewelry
to sell, to the layout, the shop is a work of art. Not to mention the
brilliance of somehow mixing toys and jewelry to form an aesthetically beautiful
functional business. Aesthetic function? I started seeing this pattern in so
many places that my family and I are drawn to, from a local pie maker, to a
cheese and wine shop, all bearing personal touch, artistry, and business
function. It seems in this simple environment the Vermonters have tapped into
the idea that we are all artists in what we do first, ala James Joyce’s
perspective perhaps.
The
difficulty of a professional artist always seems to be the business aspect. The
one rule of thumb here seems to be to never lose yourself or ideals for sales. These
business people believe in everything they sell, whole-heartedly. The cheese
and wine shop even has an under $10 rack considering the lower budget,
un-aficionado wine drinker. But the owner did hand pick all of those wines as
well to her liking. I found those are the wines she sold most, even though her own
true passion of wine usually lives in the $25 plus racks. Let’s face it,
commercial means what the people desire thus we provide. Yet there is a
spiritual service in this notion- serving others. The Vermonters teach me the
importance of holding on to your integrity at all costs, in the face of buyers
or bosses demands.
Being
an artist is innate to the human experience. Expression and understanding
through our own feelings is first and foremost. Simply pleasing the powers that
be is nothing more than a self-imposed slave ship. Conflict should never be
feared, as understanding another’s humanity should always be adhered to. I call
this mutual empathy. It is the idea that superior or inferior, there is an
understanding of the whole as well as other person’s experience as if it were
your own. Those who are unable or unwilling to see a mutual empathy, and conflict
with the idea of regard for a work colleague are simply creating a cycle of suffering
they assume we all accept- employers and employees. I choose simply
understanding. Who will you be?
