MOST of the time, we misjudge because we neglect to explore. I have had friends and relatives, too, who have declared this or that based on enthusiasm rather than on the nature of the endeavour, grasping at another person’s success, or another’s failure.
It is, in many cases, the crisis of not being too sure about your own direction. Today, there are too many discussions about hopeful possibilities, based on guesswork about probabilities and unseen occurrences, which brings me to a youngster I met some years ago, who honestly wanted to become an illustrator.
He was a former student of the Burrowes School of Art. I invited him to my home and pointed out that when you’re building characters, you have to build them through research and the use of models.
He indicated that the art school back then had models, but when you’re selecting models today, you have to pay because they don’t look the way you need them to for your project. It didn’t just happen; it took housekeeping to get there.
He was polite, confessing that he had one child and another was on the way, so he would shelve the idea for a while. I advised him that there were other related things he could do along the way.
So far, I haven’t seen him since.
The era of the suitcase traders is gone, and I can’t telegraph an alternate employment in this age, where a beginner platform will not be saddled with challenges. Yet I advised him not to ignore his natural gifts.
I assured him that the world is a strange place and opportunities are best hunted, but they do come when you least expect them.
Every area is challenging. True, there are too many proposals to get rich, but with each comes a challenge. One requires sleepless nights and betrayals from people you trusted.
When you double-check yourself, it always comes back to the fact that you must first explore the possibilities and folk that you trust, then how you will manage the dream into reality with those you trust on their merit, including your ‘inner-self’ that could also become the enemy within, most times confronted too late.
Betrayal at any level can destabilise; thus, it requires that you be convinced of the steps you take from the discipline you have developed.
You need to evaluate the advice you get before you close the door to satisfaction.
