Sink or Swim?

You always get to choose to sink or swim.

Probably the biggest certainty in life is the uncertainty of life.

Take it from me – today you might be chilling out, planning for tomorrow, and in that light take a walk to the post office a quarter-mile away. Then, unexpectedly, a week of your life has gone by that you have no recollection of – and you find yourself in hospital severely injured after being hit by a car crossing a street.

You may be thinking “that’ll never happen to me.” And I hope you’re right. Because it happened to me, and it sucked.

However, it was also one of the most profound experiences of my life. Why? Because it showed me unequivocally that you get to choose to sink or swim.

This example is extreme. But since it’s real, I think it excellently illustrates the point. Throughout your life, you have this choice: Sink or swim. Do or do not. Yes or no. Always choices and decisions to be made.

As an artist, this is fraught with numerous complications. There are the societal notions of the “starving artist” and difficulties making any money from your art, as well as other stigma attached to artists.

This applies whether you’re a painter, writer, sculptor, actor, woodworker, chef, opera singer, knitter, or any other pursuit of art intended as a living. It’s implied and expected that art should only be a hobby, not a lifestyle.

Unless, of course, you make it big. But for every Paulo Coelho, Frida Kahlo, and Eddie Murphy, there are at least a dozen others making their living practicing similar arts with relative anonymity.

This is why the choice of this pursuit can be so challenging.

Who the hell are you?

Personally, I have three distinct forms of writing I practice. These articles daily, novels mostly in sci-fi and fantasy, and professional writing for web content and other people’s blogs. Apart from a very small circle of people, I remain an unknown quantity.

That can generate two distinct issues, one of which is easier to work with than the other. External recognition AND internal recognition.

When I chose to pursue my art and write – I imagined people asking me, “who the hell are you?” Let’s face it – sci-fi and fantasy, though popular in some respects, have a semi-limited appeal. They are genres that are more niche than populist. To become a name in the field is challenging on a lot of levels – because for every Neil Gaiman or Andy Weir there are at least a dozen more writers like me.

What’s more, since I’ve chosen to go the self-publishing route, I’m the entire business entity of MJ Blehart – Author. Writer, Editor, CEO, COO, CFO, wackadoo.

The outside perspective of others, however, is totally outside of my control. All I can do is find the best ways to be seen, get known, and make a name for myself to the outside world.

To do that, however, I must confront the inside world.

When I ask, “who the hell are you?” of myself, the answer is utterly within. This means that I need to look inside my mind, heart, and soul for that answer.

Unless I know this answer – I am far more likely to sink than to swim. Why? Because if I don’t believe in myself and my art – how can I expect anyone outside of me to do so?

Who the hell I am, at my core, matters – because that’s what I project to the world.

Sink or swim is a choice

If I see myself as small, insignificant, unworthy, and a pretender – that’s not much of a floatation device. It’s much more of a weight to drag me down.

When you choose to swim it’s important to recognize all that goes into the choice.

In the process of creating my art and pursuing my passion as a writer, I’ve had to work on overcoming the nagging feeling of being undeserving, unworthy, and imposter syndrome. Just because I think and feel that I’m a writer – who’s to say that I am?

Because it’s human nature to compare ourselves to others, there’s a lot of people at every level of our arts we can compare with. Making comparisons is one matter. It can help you to generate relatability or ways to stand out. But it can also turn to competition.

If I place myself in competition with the big names and known quantities – or the other, lesser-known and unknowns like myself – I can and will drive myself mad. Competition of this nature is far more likely to cause you to sink than to swim.

Maybe nothing worth having is ever easy. But following your bliss, striving to live and work with joy, and pursuing a career in your passion is worthwhile. But you need to be aware of the obstacles along your way that will force you to choose to sink or swim.

Many people coast through life. They only sink or swim when forced to. As an artist, you’ve chosen to not simply drift along however life’s current carries you. But it’s not a one-time thing. There are always choices and decisions to be made that determine if you’ll sink or swim.

There are always choices

Whether you realize it or not – you always have choices.

To be sure, there are times it feels like this is utterly untrue. You may be in dire straits, have terrible things happening, and be feeling like sinking is your only option.

But it never is. You can choose instead to swim. But that doesn’t mean the choice will be an easy one.

What’s more, it’s a lot easier to shut out the outside influences than to work on the inside ones. I can ignore, disregard, or otherwise respond to the question of “who the hell are you?” from another person in lots of easy ways. But when it’s a question I ask myself, it needs to be answered and not ignored.

When you have chosen a unique path – such as pursuing an art – you will have added obstacles to overcome. The hardest to deal with tend to be those that come from within.

There are always choices available to you. No question you ask yourself lacks an answer. You just might dislike the answer you get.

But you are worthy and deserving of – when faced with a choice of sink or swim – swimming. Don’t be afraid that you’re not good enough to swim. Be confident, sure, and know that you are not alone.

You always get to choose to sink or swim. Probably the biggest certainty in life is the uncertainty of life – but you always have choices and options available to you. Some are just harder to see than others.

Kick ass, take names and be the best you that you can be.