The Deal with Self-Promotion
A while back I was having a conversation at an art gallery with the curator and another artist. As I am trying to explain my vision and technique the artist said in a sarcastic tone: “You like to talk about yourself a lot”. Although I wasn’t talking about myself I replied: “Yes, I do. You are not going to promote your work for me, are you?”.
The deal with self-promotion is not about talking about yourself or self-adulation. The deal with self-promotion is that no one else can explain or describe your vision and ideas better than yourself. We all have a way to explain what we do. I can be very passionate when explaining what I do. I add a little drama to my explanations too (that might be in the blood or the comedian in me… or both). Explaining my art is no exception. I get very excited when I describe my ideas and process of each piece. I like to tell the stories of the people I teach and encounter and their testimonies because I truly enjoy seeing people happy and satisfied with the experience of art. I am not talking about myself, but I have to talk through myself.
I came across an article by Nathan Hangen, The Art of Shameless Self-Promotion. Hangen stated the difference between self-adulation and self-promotion. The first is when people exalt themselves and their accomplishments in a prideful manner. The second is when people share their vision, concepts, and ideas. The last inspires something. It is important to share the ideas when people fit into them.
It is not about you or what you know. It is about what you do with your knowledge. Powers don’t define a hero. Superman and Zod have the same powers. Each one decided what to do with them. Ideas, vision, and knowledge are like superpowers and part of who you are. What you do with them is up to you. I won’t mind wearing a symbol of hope on my chest. I will wear it shamelessly not for my own sake but for the sake of others. Finding some enemies on the way is just part of the deal.
I Want Something Else
Several years ago I began teaching children with disabilities. I entered an uncharted territory and had no idea what to expect. It was an adventure from the start. I learned a lot about human behavior during those years.
“I want something else!”
That was the cry of one of my students. She repeated this words until she was screaming her heart out. Nothing could calm her down. Until her attention was diverted she would continue claiming she wanted something else but she would never say what she wanted. In multiple occasions I took walks with her trying to calm her down. During our walks she asked the same set of questions in the same sequence several times, “What are we doing after that?” She wanted to know what she was doing next after the walk and five or six events after that until the agenda of the day was completed.
Wind by Ivan Tirado
I don’t think we are so different from her. We often want something else. You heard this before, “The grass is always greener on the other side”. We are always searching for something different from what we have, but we can’t tell what it is. We often want to know details of the future ahead of us. We want to be certain we covered all the bases. We want to make sure we are in control. The truth is we never are. We may claim we are but we are not even knowing what the future holds or knowing what we want, we are not. Honestly, that is a good thing.
Wanting something else provides an opportunity for hope. It allow us to consider the difference between need and want. Not being in control allow us to be thankful of the now. The past teaches us how we got here, how to live today, and to work hard for a better future. We can’t be idle but constantly moving towards our goals with the compass of hope.