Artists have BIG balls

Artists have BIG balls in my opinion. Why?  Because they are themselves. Nothing more, nothing less. When we're kids, we're free to be ourselves...free to jump, free to scream, free to pee!! (sometimes gladly on ourselves :) As we get older, however, freedom diminishes.  Society continually stuffs our lives with sets of rules, parents, teachers, and more rules devoted to building us into people that can live within society with acceptable character traits.  "NO!!", "Don't do that, do this", "What are you thinking?" "Your boss is going to be pissed"..........all said and done....bye bye peeing-on-yourself days. It stings the first few times being told NO, (you cry), but eventually you get less emotional, (few tears), to even unaffected (rock face). In the corporate world, it's very easy to fall into a trap of achieving what is expected.  Nothing more or else it looks like you're unfocused.  Nothing less or else it looks like you're not working hard enough.  I think many fear hearing someone say "NO!".  That would imply still being a kid, and obviously that will not accelerate our career paths. That's why I love artists.  They take large amounts of criticism, back lash, rejection, disappointment, .etc...and yet they continue doing what makes them so unique.  It's almost as if they said, "I don't care what you think.  I care what I think." Well many of us may dream to be artists.  We commonly think of being a painter, photographer, or the next Justin Timberlake (sorry ladies, but Justin Bieber is before my music generation).  But I like to think of an artist as simply being "a person whose work exhibits exceptional skill" (oddly the fifth definition).  For me, this is something that anyone can be. We are all artist if we believe it. A side note, next time at work when you get knocked down or frowned upon for trying to push your creative ideas that you feel passionate about, maybe you should consider whether or not you want to become such a person.

Smart Brains or Stupid Balls

A friend of mine will enroll into a 1-year art institute program in Los Angeles to improve his music recording skills.  He dreams to make music for movie films.  The program offers no guarantees...no jobs lined up, no internships, no visibility, no courses on how to marketing yourself or create a portfolio.  The awwww-dropper for most non-Americans,  it will cost him $29,000!  Most people I know in Europe and Asia are accustomed to paying less than $1000 per year for education. Will this program land his dream job? Maybe my friend has smart brains.  Smart brains is about being rational.  Invest a lot of time, and in this case money, into fine-tuning skills.  Practice, practice, practice, build, build, build up skills.  At the end, provide certificates, hopefully from the finest schools that prove you're amazing.  No one can refute a degree, right?  Don't forget to mention grades when highest in the class, and become a student  leader of some organization even if it has nothing to do with making film music just so you can call yourself a leader...yea I've been there, done that. OR Maybe my friend has stupid balls.  Stupid balls are irrational creatures.  In retrospect, my friend has no clue if the program is legit or not, but he's going to do it anyway and move his whole life across the country.  Ask him why and he'll talk about having a hunch that by being in Los Angeles where films are being produced, opportunities to meet some critical players within the field may arise.  Is he confident?  Not really. He does, however, believe that going there will provide the best chance to reach his dream of making film music. Would you go to the school? Most people find his decision rather odd. Now here's the catch. I'm willing to wage most people admire stupid balls whether they want to admit it or not.  Stupid balls bring the wow-factor, the excitement into our daily lives.  When stupid balls act, people pounce on it.  Sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always a pounce.  Smart brains are particularly eager to ridicule stupid balls' decisions.  What's funny is that most people we idolize aren't a result of having smart brains, but because they have stupid balls.  All exceptional leaders take absurd risks, which smart brains pounce upon until stupid balls come out on top. So the next time before ridiculing a risk taker, you might want to check your balls.  "No guts, no glory." Best of luck my friend at school.  May you reach all your dreams! Side-note: Whoever wants to combat me and say that higher-level education isn't a business in the USA, please contact me and I'd be happy to go into an insightful battle. Double side-note...some nice viral marketing on "ball" by Axe