I have been working feverishly, trying to create new resources for writers, and ensure that my work reflects not just who I am, but what I hope to create in this world.
And sometimes I need help. Sometimes we all need help.
So I have been looking into hiring some people to work with me, to help me clarify and hone things. To help me ensure I have a laser focus on exactly the right things, and throw the rest in the trash.
And I find that I am working with artists.
Not “artists” as Seth Godin talks about, which is a definition too broad for my taste. I mean, people who create art – paintings and sculpture and other things you create purely to explore. Not “I made this cappuccino for you, it is my art.” But rather: “I painted this. I’m not sure why, I’m not sure what it means, but I couldn’t not do it. It is my art.”
Yes, I run a business, and a core part of that is the exchange of money for goods or services. I make no apologies for that for several reasons, the primary of which is that I truly believe that what I offer helps people. Also: I am the sole provider for my family. I can’t express how seriously I take that responsibility.
But I am done with trading time for money, or rather, JUST for money. Something more has to be created as well. A new possibility for someone. The work I do needs to scale the capacity of others. If I teach a writer how to better connect with a reader, what comes from that is far greater than what I can quantify. There is something exponential, yet subtle in that.
Which is perhaps why I am looking to work with artists. Because they are not giving me the expected. They are not giving me canned marketing best practices. They are doing the opposite: they are looking outside of the usual context to find the space where new possibilities exist.
I have just committed to working with one artist for the next couple of months, helping to better define We Grow Media. I have been chatting with another artist to help bring some of those ideas to fruition.
I don’t know what will come of it. They can’t make promises, and I can’t expect them to. We are venturing off the path, looking for new ground, new possibilities.
But I do know that I will end up in a far more interesting place because of it. One that I hope you will join me for.
Thanks.
-Dan