An email received...

I received an email from a young woman this week who was looking for voice lessons.  She will obviously remain anonymous, however, her email summed up the state of our business (I say that loosely because the "business" has so many subdivisions).

Her email said she couldn't sing, but she needed to learn to sing to get that record deal that would make her famous.  And that she was broke and did I offer scholarships for singing lessons?

To me - that summed up so much of the American Idol-ism of what our business is becoming. Famous is not craft.  Famous is an empty non-knowing. Those that are not famous and have no vocabulary in our business have no idea what "famous" means or what it truly represents. This makes me sad actually.  

What happened to building craft? Taking time to seek? Discover? Observe? Develop a life that is filled with artistic pursuit in how one lives one's life????

"Famous" means nothing. It is not a pursuit; it is a vocation; it is not a calling; it is empty and meaningless and if you speak to real artists who have had to deal with it, as a bi-product of their work, they would rather have their craft than their famous-ness and be left alone.

Pursuit of SELF is BEYOND famous.  Self, no matter what the directive - be it in the arts or not.  This is TRUTH to me.  The other is a brass ring that is only an illusion.  Sad so many people believe it's real.