Why Bother?
Vincent Van Gogh, Lawrence Kolhberg, Ludwig Boltzmann, James Dean, Galileo, Emily Dickinson, El Greco, Edgar Allen Poe, and many others. What do they have in common? They all achieved success and recognition after their deaths.
Van Gogh never sold a painting in his life. Today, they are worth millions.
Ludwig Boltzmann discovered his famous second law, of thermodynamics, also known as the law of entropy. He committed suicide while on vacation after scientists rejected his theories. Today, the Boltzmann Equations serve as a foundational basis of science.
Lawrence Kolhberg, a professor of ethics at Harvard, walked into the ocean after Carol Gilligan refuted his theory of moral and ethical development. Her replicated research demonstrated that Kolhberg’s theories weren’t applicable to women, only to men. His body was found near the end of a runway at Logan Airport. Today, every psychology student knows of Kolhberg’s theories.
The point I want to make is that success may not always come in our lifetime. I am a writer; I am an educator. I love writing my stories and articles. I also know many other writers who are indie (independent) writers. We all love the craft of composing a well-written story or essay. We love expressing our ideas. Will any of us make the New York Times best seller list. Most likely, not. Yet we write anyway.
Most of us indies hate marketing. Yet marketing is usually necessary to achieve financial and recognitional success. So the question that occupies my mind is “why?” Why engage in an activity like marketing that we hate? The answer (for me) is that engaging in activities that take the joy out of our lives is a waste of time and energy.
Recognition may or may not come in this lifetime. It may never come. Pursuing something that is as fickle and elusive as fame and fortune is frustrating and depressing; that way lies madness. Why not spend our few short years following our joy and ignoring the things that we hate? Ignore marketing; ignore seeking to make the NYTs best seller list. If we, against all odds, achieve fame and fortune, great! If not, at least our time and energy are spent in more fulfilling, joyful and productive ways.
Perhaps Joseph Campbell was right when he said, “Follow your bliss.”
My doctoral advisor and good mentor recently died at 96. But there was a time when I both studied under him and worked for him when he was a star. He was the president of a 3000 member national organization, an expert presenter of visual presentations and speeches before PowerPoint and an innovator of many ideas about minimizing technology for the masses and ways of educating the masses about technology.
We differed only in my thinking that high technology like the Internet and cell phones would be also revolutionary. He readily accepted my ideas like I accepted his. He was a pilot and that allowed him to fly everywhere in his plane's and even internationally when he did consulting. He also was the executive editor and author of a series of textbooks on the study of technology in schools and colleges.
I looked him up on the Internet and found only one or two references. In spite of all the success of his many master and doctoral students, he has no Internet presence except with ERIC an educational database preceding the Internet.
Like you, I don't spend much time marketing. But I do spend a couple hours a day reading the exceptional writers here on AD and help promote them when I can. I always look forward to your articles because they are so spot on. When I published The Last Wanderer a couple of years ago, it struck a chord, and the sales have not let up, increasing a little bit every month. So far, it's the first I've been recognized for my novels and it's very encouraging.
I believe my autobiography and recent tales about my youth will be appreciated by my family years from now even though they may not resonate with the public. That's okay.
Thanks for reconfirming for me that making sales for sales sake is for others besides the creative.
Ron