Why You Are An Artist & Not Amazon Prime

Cultivating art in an era of speed and instant gratification is making a creative and intuitive process go against the tide of the warp speed of today’s wants and needs. We live in a world where we can look up something we want on our phones and with a couple of taps know that it will arrive on our doorstep within 24 hours. That is the backdrop of the current way we are experiencing life. With that comes a sense that everything should be that fast, move at that speed, be delivered within the shortest of time spans. Yet, that is not the case for things like the creative process.

When creating art, there needs to be space for intuition and imagination to bud and flower into an idea that we are met with and that will then be formed into something the world can see and hold. This is not executed on a 24-hour deadline. It is also true that what you create may not appeal to the masses. Not everyone will want it or even like it and that is ok.

As an artist you are not appealing to the masses and serving them all at an unrelenting pace. You are cultivating a symbiotic relationship with your creative impulses and merging them with your ability to translate them into a physical form. With that comes a timing all of its own. I am not saying that there may not be deadlines at play or that there is an infinite amount of time to create one art piece, but there is a notion here that it may not be on a 24-hour turnover and that is not something that needs to be your concern.

The advent of services such as Amazon Prime have seeped into our consciousness and have contributed to the desire to request and receive what we want at warp speed. We have less resolve for patience and the careful cultivation of creativity which can’t just be boxed up and shipped out at a moment’s notice. And whether we are aware of it or not, this type of instant need being met is becoming something we have begun requiring of ourselves. Rushing through our to do list as quickly as possible, creating a six-figure business overnight. Transforming your life in 3 steps. Everything has a backdrop of speed and it all has to be done immediately, because if Amazon Prime can do it, why can’t we?

Because we are not Amazon Prime. We are not multinationals who have thousands of staff and systems in place to run a well-oiled machine set to serve the masses and appeal to all their whims as quickly as possible. We are artists, we work with the unseen and unknown and we bring it to life. And for many of us, we are one person, creating, sharing and shipping.

So, if you are an artist and you are creating your own work and sharing it and if you are also selling it then don’t compare yourself to the cultural guidelines that are currently pervading our human consciousness. Work at the speed that nature is delivering ideas to you and where you can sustain your creativity and contribution without burnout or overwhelm. Understand that there are reasons that your art resonates with others and the chances are it has nothing to do with how fast you created it or how quickly you shipped it. What you create is not part of the throwaway culture that has become manifest in the world we live in it is for the long game. Its contribution is in connection with another human soul. Art throughout the ages has survived and is still revered today, even when the era it was created in is long gone.  And that is the reason you are an artist and not Amazon Prime.