When it comes to art, poetry, music anything really it is only natural to fall into a self-doubting position and even feel jealous of someone else’s success. Perhaps that person may have a unique approach to words, may get along better with fellow creators and generally have a more open mind about the world. And that can be intimidating because all of us want to be the best and impress with our work, but when we see someone who’s more skilful in the craft we specialise in that person suddenly becomes a threat. So what happens then? You either decide to avoid that fellow creator and completely dissociative yourself with them because their success might dampen your ego. Or, you can accept that there will always be someone smarter, funnier, more creative and eloquent in their writing and use that as an inspiration to drive your own development forward. I was once told by a fantastic Bulgarian musician and singer Etien Levi that one should never forget that there will always be ten people who are worse than you, ten people who are at the same level as you and ten people who are better than you. So, what? The lesson here is not to get stuck in this comfortable zone of mediocrity because then you’ll never progress and build on what you already know. Always strive towards the higher tier and keep working hard because you won’t master a craft by simply playing smug and pretending that you know everything. Nobody knows everything not even Steven Hawkins, Stephen Fry or Oprah Winfrey. You probably think that what you’ve read so far is obvious, but here’s the thing, it’s easy to forget and to fall into a jealous tantrum, I mean I do it myself at times, and that’s not a great state to be in. It just dampens your mood and confidence—and nobody likes grumpy peeps. So, to round things off—keep writing, composing, filming, cooking whatever it is you’re passionate doing and just try working with your rivals, who knows, you might learn something new!
Stay Awesome.
Jenny x
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