The Artist's Prayer
If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), "Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?" chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death…
Are you paralyzed with fear? That’s a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it. —Steven Pressfield
When all the illusions of personal immortality are stripped away, there is only the act to maintain the freedom to act. —John Gardner
Above: Only the best artists achieve lossless transmission between an idea and its enactment.
May I write and not smudge,
Play and strike no false note,
Coat and not smear,
Carve and not crack.
May I write and be read,
Sing and be heard,
Paint and be seen,
Sculpt and be studied.
May my words find clear eyes,
my notes—open ears,
my paint—suspended disbelief,
my stone—a steady gaze.
May I start so as to finish,
Teach so as to learn,
Write so as to think,
Speak so as to listen.
May my work be not for nothing,
But my sweat be shed for something.
Neither fame nor fortune,
But rather: fulfillment.
Grant all onlookers a good heart, a keen mind, and a kind soul,
That they might glimpse the Good, the Beautiful, the True.
Dear God, point out the beginning,
Direct the progress,
And help in the completion.
Amen.