Often I find myself biting my tongue at many instances where incompetence at times is just overwhelming. After running into another situation where incompetence was at its peak, a thought hit me, toolsmiths seek to gain satisfaction from how well they were able to execute a task with a given tool, while the artist aims to take the understanding of their toolset and apply it through a process that allows them to create something with meaning and benefit beyond feeding the ego.
Sure the ego needs to be fed every once in awhile, but never at the expense of others. It’s easy to pick up a tool and call yourself something, but it takes a level of deep commitment and passion that the tool doesn’t provide, in order to push your work to being more than just average.
In the age where digital tools can make a person a star based on the successful level of skill and fame they can derive, it’s easy to think that people are tools as well. The human factor of creative work has an impact that has been lost in the rat race toward a shiny award and has reduced the power of being creative down to nothing more than a cesspool of mediocre work.
Growth can only happen when the ego is set aside and the understanding of constructive criticism is picked up. Sometimes this criticism can hurt, especially after we’ve poured our hearts and souls into making something and it turns out that it could be better. However with this we can learn how to improve our art, and instead of throwing in the towel when things get tough, we use that same towel to wipe away the sweat from our brow, while we are doing the work needed in order to grow.
[bctt tweet=”The act of growing is full of pain, but also it is filled with wonder and limitless possibilities.” username=”dsmy”]
No one suddenly becomes a master at a particular skill set overnight, but with consistency and dedication towards becoming better the toolsmith can cross the divide and become a true artist.
It’s okay to be a toolsmith, but what happens if your favorite tool is taken away? How effective will you be then? Not very well I would imagine. Simply being a toolsmith isn’t enough in this day and age. Now it requires more than just knowledge of how to use a tool really well, it requires being able to effectively select the right tools for the job as well as being able to creatively use them in problem solving.
Artists don’t just create things to be admired despite what most may think. They create to express and connect those who interact with it. If in your journey the things you seek happen to be fame and fortune, now is a good time to quit and find something else to do. Otherwise, you’ll simply be responsible for wasting precious time. After all, we only have so much of it to go around each day.
[bctt tweet=”To be an artist it means that you stand for something greater than a mediocre life.” username=”dsmy”]
This journey is one that will take us through valleys and take us to the mountain tops, but not if we never make the effort to start. We can dream and wish upon stars, or we can turn those dreams into a reality.
Life isn’t always about winning, and even though it may often seem like a competition, it really isn’t. We all are bound to be true to ourselves, to those around us. Sadly, some of us are set in our ways and may never change, but for the rest of us who dare to be better than wandering through life without any true sense of purpose, life holds a much different meaning. One that takes the focus off of self and aims outwards in order to help others upwards.
We can fear living because of what others may think of us, but that form of living seems to be one where we will constantly be seeking others approval to live our lives. That is not okay. People will judge everyone, but themselves. Why? Well, it’s easy to see the mistakes of others but our own faults we try so hard to ignore. This is also not okay. Life is hard enough with all that we must deal with, the least we can do is have each other’s backs and help lighten their burden.
It’s in this area where the true distinction of the differences between the artist and toolsmith truly become apparent. [Tweet “The artist takes the time to listen and understand, while the toolsmith is only anxious to act without giving any true level of thought.”]
Are you an artist or a toolsmith?
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