I've been doing a lot of thinking and reading on the subject of non-attachment. Basically it seems to all boil down to relinquishing your ego and expectations and how letting go of our attachment to these things allows us to be free. I think as artists, creators and even as human being we are always searching for a sense of meaning and purpose especially with our work. We spend most of our young adult life and even longer if your like me trying to figure out where we fit into this world and what it is we want to do with our time here. It's not always easy to navigate this, our ideas and identity get altered and shaped by other people's expectations and perceptions of us. The line gets blurred between what we actually love and what we think we "should" love... I think there is a huge disconnect in society with people losing touch with what they actually love to do. Responsibility / bills / obligations take hold of us and before we know it it consumes our life and yet we sit here impassioned, bitter and angry wondering what happened. It feels like being locked in a cage that's slowly sinking in water. I think the problem is people quit creating. They gave up on doing what they love. For lack of time or energy or whatever the reason may be. We are all creators by nature and I think it's essential to our being to create. As we slowly drown locked in the cage we tell ourselves it's okay because we have build a facade or image that we dare not tear down. You can be super successful, financially or in other means and still be drowning in that cage, all because you've built an image you can't let go of. Even if you do daydream about leaving it all behind to start from scratch and chase that dream you've always had.. or on the flip side you can be an artist / creator who has sacrificed at great magnitude to make a living doing what you love... either way I think you lose. Why? Because being an artist and putting so much emphasis on it paying your bills and making you the life you've always dreamed of will ultimately crush your passion and inspiration. Your love for creation wasn't meant to be burdened with that kind of weight. Can you imagine as a little kid drawing with your crayons and someone tells you " now you better draw that picture like your next meal depends on it" seriously ? No way, you freeze up. You were just drawing to draw because you loved it and you drew whatever your imagination could conjure up. For me this is what I'm Learning- Do what you love because you love it and don't let anyone stop you or tell you otherwise. Create freely and openly without expectation, free of attachment. Don't make a movie you don't want to make because you think it will make you money. Make the movie you want to make because you want so badly to tell that story. Do what you need to to pay the bills for now even if it's not your dream job and do it well. Always make time for your art / passion and if someday it provides a means to pay your bills then Awesome! You've done it. And honestly I think this is the trick. Most people you see that are doing what they love for a living are doing so because they first pursued their art with no limitation or pressure and then something miraculous happened, they made great work that they genuinely cared about and people took notice and decided they wanted to start paying them for it. So yes as counter intuitive as it may seem let go of your ego, whatever it is, it's not you. Live free and passionately. Let go of your seriousness and need to succeed and just do what you love for the sake of just that, because you love it. - Robert Dean and ps yes please ignore my funky grammar I'm typing this on my phone at a late hour.
