Where Nobody Knows Your Name

0 CommentsTuesday • January 10, 2012 • by Imei

There is an attraction to going to places where everyone knows your name. It is so attractive, we have a song with that line in it, as the theme song for the sitcom, “Cheers.” Strangely, I enjoy going places where I’m anonymous, unknown, and unrecognized. It allows people to project their sh!t, get me “wrong”, and think differently about me as much as I may do the same on them.

I know people who like to stick to the same circles. It’s comfortable as warm cocoon. But it’s horrible for your art over time. While you may need some things to stay the same — your paints, brushes, place to create art, devices, etc — a change of scenery can be just the ticket to jolting your sluggish brain from its artistic fog or lethargy.

Did I share with you the time that I crashed an actor’s party in Vancouver BC? I used a fake name, “Trixie BonBon,” and I managed to convince the door person that I really knew the actor who was throwing a party for his friends (I didn’t). They gave me bottles of champagne to hand out to everyone, and by the end of the evening, some random guy told me he was in love with me. While none of that did anything for my dance art, I’ve always wanted to write that scene into a script. Regardless, that experience has helped me talk my way into just about any event I’ve ever wanted to attend without an invitation.

I took on a role. You can too. What if you were to travel somewhere no one knew you, and you simply practiced the act of being the artist you were meant to be? Not aspiring artist: just “artist”, as in present tense, IRL, “here I am in the flesh”, “what you see is what you get”, Artist, as if that were the most natural thing to be.

Adlerian psychology has a tenet similar to this thought, called “pretending as if.” I have noticed when under-confident artists who have not experienced the level of success they have wanted start “acting as if” they had already become the artists they want to be, they believe themselves, and thus others believe them too. They get hired, their art is purchased, and they are commissioned for new work.

This isn’t an act of Tom Foolery in manipulating reality. You aren’t changing anything but your own attitude towards yourself, which creates a shift in your energy from insecurity and doubt to confidence and exuberance, which is often more palpable than you think. When I believe people find my services valuable, I shouldn’t be surprised that they ask me to help, and they are willing to pay for those services.

Are you struggling with telling others about your artistic work? Do you love what you do, but you have a hard time communicating that with others? Chances are, you may need a little help in shifting your thinking.

As for me, I’m going to do a little think-shift in San Francisco during MacWorld 2012 Jan. 26-28, as well as into the weekend with a friend. Be prepared for my return, exploding back onto the scene with energy and ideas for your artistic life.

Posted in: Art, attitude, inspiration, mental heath, performance arts, psychology

Tagged with: art, artistic, inspiration, MacWorld 2012