Going with the Flow

Have you ever made plans for your life and then kept running into stumbling blocks that frustrated your plans? Many of us have.

One approach is to keep on revising the plan and trying different approaches until you break through. That kind of persistence will eventually pay off, but the price required will be to narrow your focus until there is only ever one goal in sight, to the exclusion of virtually everything else. Single mindedness of this type can exact a deep personal toll. However, it is a price that some people gladly pay.

Another approach is to be flexible and go with the flow of whatever seems to work. For example, one person who gets a great deal of satisfaction out of creating her art said that the act of creation is so important to her that if people don't want to buy her work, she would still do it as a hobby and make her money doing something else. For her, the act of creation is the important part.

For one person the goal is the most important part, and for the other, the process is most important.

Your greatest measure of self satisfaction is contained in knowing which kind of person you are. It's not like one way is the right way and the other way is the wrong way.

I have actually tried it both ways myself. Years ago, I self published a couple of poetry books. It cost considerable money to print them and it was a lot of work to think up different promotions, get them into stores on consignment and think of ways to sell them.

Later, I wrote a couple of nonfiction books and shopped them around to various publishers, figuring that this time around, I just wanted to do the writing part and let the publisher do the printing and distribution part. But first you have to get them to want to publish them, which I was unable to do. So I just put them away and have been considering other ways to continue expressing myself, and this blog became one viable option.

There are other avenues on the Internet these days. Artists can sell their own art on sites like Etsy or their own websites. Writers can sell their books as downloads off their websites or make arrangements for on demand printing. Musicians can offer downloads of their songs on their own websites or music websites.

Of course, sales may be sporadic unless you can get lots of people to visit your website.

There are possibilities. It is primarily a matter of deciding how you want to approach it, and which kind of approach you want to take. Go with the flow and see which way feels right for you. Either way, you can still enjoy the satisfaction of your creativity.

Remember, the first person to enjoy the fruits of your labor it you. How others regard it and what they are willing to pay for it is a separate question.