I'm not a big fan of "rules" when it comes to
life, love and art.
You don't have to go to college. You don't have to get a "real job." You don't have to get married, have children, or buy a house. You don't have to love someone with the same age, religion, sex or ethnicity as you. And you don't have to sacrifice the authenticity and value of your art to please someone who doesn't understand the importance of self-expression.
You don't have to go to college. You don't have to get a "real job." You don't have to get married, have children, or buy a house. You don't have to love someone with the same age, religion, sex or ethnicity as you. And you don't have to sacrifice the authenticity and value of your art to please someone who doesn't understand the importance of self-expression.
That last one is huge. And it's the one I want to focus on
today.
I think a lot of people don't truly respect and appreciate
art—or the people who have the guts to create and share it with the world in
the first place. And although that shouldn't bother me because no one should
give a shit what anyone else thinks about their art, it still bothers me. It's
something I really want to address to all the raw, brave and creative souls of
the world. These people are my friends, my family, my brothers, my sisters, and
my soul mates. I am very protective of them, and I want them to succeed just as
badly as I want to succeed myself.
It bothers me when children are told that their drawings and
pieces of artwork are stupid or wrong because they colored outside the lines or
painted their dog pink instead of brown.
It bothers me when young dancers are taught to focus more on
stamina, poise and perfection than freedom, emotion and humanity.
It bothers me when writers are told to keep their work
squeaky clean and not include sex, profanity, or weighty issues that every single
one of us has to deal with at some point in our lives.
It bothers me when actors are criticized for acting out
realistic events, regardless of whether they play the good guy or the bad guy.
Playing a rapist doesn't mean you advocate rape. If anything, it raises
awareness about it.
It bothers me when singers are taught to focus more on pitch and vocal range instead of telling the
stories behind their songs with real emotion and conviction.
It bothers me when an artist of any kind feels deterred from
creating the kind of work that feels right to them just because their peers or
family members decide to be judgmental and critical instead of understanding
and supportive.
Art is not always going to be pretty, clean and shiny. In my
opinion, the best art is anything but. I like songs that make me cry. I like
movies that unsettle me. I like books that make me cry and unsettle me. I want people to swear because swearing means you
feel strongly about something and aren't afraid to emphasize it. I want people
to be selfish and make mistakes and hurt others and themselves because we all
do those things. I like weird stuff. I like deep stuff. I like disturbing
stuff. I like messy stuff. If you're willing to travel into the weird, deep,
disturbing and messy parts of yourself and turn all of it into art that can
heal, entertain and inspire others, you have a wonderful and irreplaceable
gift. And I will never chastise you
for it.
My hope for you is that you will try to ignore unsolicited,
hypercritical, or passive aggressive remarks about your art form, whatever it
may be. By choosing to please others instead of yourself and allow the
emptiness that comes with that to widen and fester, you are doing a massive
disservice to yourself and to the people who will buy your books, albums,
movies and photographs someday—the people who will cherish them, wear them out,
and salvage them in the event of a fire.
You have something to say, so you must say it fearlessly.
And maybe, just maybe, one person will stand out from the
crowd and say, "I couldn't have said it better myself."
<3 Madison
