Jay and I applied for the same conference (coming up this weekend). He was invited, I wasn’t, and today I’m feeling sad about it, as if it is the Only Conference In the World, aka, the Only Chance to Make Cool Friends or Have a Career in the Arts.
I want to be picked! I want to be with My People! I don’t want to have to hold political office (Roberts’ Rules! Group Decision-Making!) in order for people to value what I do! How unfair!
But here’s the Lie: That’s the only way to get picked: be some way I’m not. And here’s the Truth: They wanted what Jay offered. And also: They didn’t want what I offered, but that doesn’t mean that no one does.
I’ve never been to this conference. I don’t even know if it’s made up of My People— maybe, maybe not. Is it only my ego, then, that’s bruised?
It’s such a weird, weird balance: making art, dancing with inspiration, sharing it, and hoping someone comes to the show. (Hoping everyone comes to the show! That those who didn’t come regret it bitterly and beg for an encore performance!). As if the only way to truly be loved is to be Loved Too Much. To be Clamored After. That doesn’t sound like a very artsy, introvert-friendly lifestyle.
So, what do I really want? I want the flow and exchange of delight with my audience, with My People. I want to know that when I have something to share, there are people who will get it, love it, connect with it– an impossible guarantee. I want to trust that I can follow the Muse and be paid well, not live precariously on promises and wishes. And I want to be just right for this job– more Capricious Zephyr and less Executive Suit that I am.
I feel sad I didn’t get picked, because the Lie says: I’ll never get picked. But that’s not how cause and effect work, and it’s not at all how Magic works. I feel tired because the Lie says: I have to do it all myself, I can’t rely on anyone else to see the value I offer. (I didn’t get picked for a conference? I must– obviously!– start my own conference!) How exhausting. And I feel embarrassed because the Lie says: Professionals don’t get so upset about not being picked, so I must not be a Professional. Maybe “Professionals” don’t, but Humans do. Kids do, and I like them more than pretty much anyone else– because they’re honest and open and they know Magic.
Ennis’s school’s philosophy is “Go slow to go fast.” They have no homework at first. They build up to it. They truly master the foundations of learning, they connect with their own creative curiosity without shame. They aren’t in a rush to prove something.
(The Lie says: I’ve had plenty of time to go slow and it’s taking too long and if I don’t hurry up there won’t be any opportunities left.)
When I read The Highly Sensitive Person for the first time, I had a vision of myself on my elementary school playground. I was running, running, running to try to keep up with the pack of kids, and I was exhausted. I could barely do it. (And I certainly wasn’t having fun). Everyone else seemed fine; the pace was no problem. Every time I caught up to them, they ran off, rested and ready to go. (I had a real-life experience just like that on a canoe trip once, and it’s amazing I ever picked up a paddle again).
But I realized that surely not everyone could be running full-tilt across the field. Surely I wasn’t the literal only one who wanted to explore the secret little nooks and crannies of the playground.
And when I stopped running… there were the others like me– My People. The other kids who didn’t think a breakneck pace was fun. The others who wanted to whisper secret messages through the PVC tubing, crawl under the decking, or set up camp in the tire tunnel.
There were fewer of us than the mass of bodies that ran as a pack… but how many playmates did I need? How many do any of us need? Wasn’t it better to have one or two or three companions who saw (and loved) the world as I did?
(More recently, I’ve heard Seth Godin describe this as finding your Minimum Viable Audience).
It still feels scary to stop running. To stand still. Even though I like the view far better this way: all the details visible, the colors distinct instead of being a blur; I like the quiet crunch of gravel under my shoes, the echoes of distant voices, the stillness like a lake within my body.
So, do I still hope I get picked? Always! But do I want to play every game, sprint every race? No. I don’t. Sometimes we say “No, thank you” ourselves, and sometimes someone else says it for us.
On Monday I taught the first of three “Build Your Own World” classes to a bunch of 9- to 12-year-olds. I can say without hesitation that they are definitely My People. I basked in their presence, I left inspired and energized. There was no posturing, no second-guessing, no fear, no shortness of breath. Just mutual delight as whole universes were created between us.
Maybe “Who picks me?” is really the same question as “Who do I pick?” And the thunderous chase can’t catch the answer to either.
Maybe I must stand still, legs trembling and breath held, and– ear to the pipe– listen to the words whispered within.
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