Book #11
How To Be An Artist
By Jerry Saltz
Do You Want a Formulaic or Creative Life?
In this book, Saltz is talking about artist Sol LeWitt when he says, “Rigid adherence to formula can trap you in a cul-de-sac….” This resonates quite literally with me.
My bachelor’s degree is in mathematics. It is a beautiful and useful subject but I began to become uneasy with how little questioning was done both for me in my career and in optimizing systems overall. So much time was spent on details, not overall direction.
I often had a very different vision of where I wanted things to go both personally and professionally, which led to frustration on all sides. I also noticed how angry and uninspired a lot of adults are. I wish I would’ve questioned if I wanted this sooner, because I don’t. I don’t want the cul-de-sac life.
Unfortunately for me, I strayed too far in the other direction. I didn’t like the confines of where my career was going and so I over-corrected and became the starving artist. Is this much better though? Not really.
The Idealized Nature of Our Regrets
The author says “It’s a far better thing to let yourself get lost than never to stray at all”. Well, I did get lost. Although I am grateful to myself for not going down a path I didn’t like, I’m still not doing great on this one either. “Two roads diverged in a wood… and they both kind of sucked”. That’s how the poem goes, right? Just kidding.
I think when it comes to regret, we often compare our path to a theoretical amazing one that would’ve led to our dream outcome. We never really consider both paths being sort of “meh”. Regret often tends toward idealization.
So now, I am trying to break out of this habit. To release my all-or-nothing feeling and instead embrace the path I’m on and seek incremental improvement wherever I am. I don’t have to backtrack, I don’t have to do any major course corrections, I just have to go a bit more in my desired direction each day.
Messy Bun Book Lover
(Originally posted on Apr. 27, 2025)
Read How To Be An Artist by Jerry Saltz → https://amzn.to/3J79CbK
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