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Through the Artistic Lens: Why Failure is Normal
Words Annabel Gold
Psychology and Wellbeing Editor, Annabel Gold discusses why failure is part of everyday life and why you shouldn’t avoid it.
The word ‘art’ derives from the Latin word ‘ars’ which is translated as ‘skill’, ‘technique’ or ‘craft’. Although, there is no generally agreed definition of what constitutes art, we do know that it goes beyond a beautiful visual piece that is painted or drawn, it goes beyond a subject within a curriculum and it goes beyond a word that comes after ‘performing’. The concept of art has changed and over the course of time and there have been and still remains definitions that have been expanded and improved on.
One way art has been defined is the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination. Another way is as a diverse range of human activities involving creative imagination to express technical, proficiency, beauty, emotional power or conceptual ideas. It seems as though art is simply the expression of one’s skill/creativity, therefore artists are creators, they have the ability to create and form something out of physically nothing. They have a special imaginative power that must be translated into something that others can see, hear, taste or touch. It's also a transformative power from absolutely nothing to something pleasing to the 5 senses.
An artist can be a painter, a producer, a designer, a musician, a writer, To be a creative artist, it takes the use of the mind, a certain type of mindset is needed, a mind that can imagine and dream, a mind that can translate that imagination and dream into reality, a mind that has the capacity to be misunderstood and opposed, a mind that can stand out from the crowd.
There are so many stories and examples of world renown artists that we could look at whose creations changed the course of the industry. From Dr Dre, to Steve jobs, from Mozart to Michael Jordan, from Elon Musk to Albert Einstein, from J.K. Rowling to Adrian smith. We have also seen cases of artists whose mind got the better of them, in the heat of forming art and creating from Alexander McQueen to Van Gogh, Virginia Woolf to Kate Spade, Chester Bennington, there are many artists whose lives showcased battles with their mind, from DMX to Britney spears, Michael Jackson to Justin Bieber. Bieber is an example of an artist who at a young age and while fresh in the creative industry struggled mentally and involved himself heavily with drugs, he took time out and was able to do a 360, coming back better than he started.
The Mind of an Artist
Moreover, it is necessary for us to understand how exactly the mind of an artist runs, how they process their ideas and their perception towards failure. There have been many stories where artists and creatives fail on the way to success. I had the opportunity of talking to an architect/luxury designer who creates and builds sets for TV shows, movies and talk shows which stream globally to millions of people. I was also able to ask some questions to a music artist who writes thousands of songs for himself & different other artists to perform and they were both able to share some details of how their mind works.
“My mind is like a mood board, I take things off and stick things on until the piece comes together”
“It gets too much sometimes because it's hard to switch off, even though I sleep, my mind is always up so I always wake up with so many ideas”
“Any time I am creating something, it’s like a good rush and feeling of high energy”
“What's the point of being a creative artist if you can’t produce?”
The peace of creativity is at that point where every concept and idea in the artist's mind comes alive and together and in a physical reality, seeing their product is therapeutic. It’s okay to have a somewhat busy mind, especially if it's all around creating and bringing ideas to life, what is more important for an artist is a platform, a platform where their creative concepts can be explored and expressed. At this point the dopamine levels are heighted, this chemical is a big part of our unique human ability to think and plan, it helps us strive and focus. Dare I say that enhancing good mind health for creative artists is in allowing them to be themselves and having the space where they can express their imaginative art and creativity.
Redefining Failure
One of the creative artists described failure as their output and expression not matching up to what was originally in their mind. There was a standard set in their mind about how their work should appear.
Einstein quoted that “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new”. As an artist, there is a natural ability to continually try new things and new ways of doing almost anything and everything, so it is almost mandatory for all types of artists to make mistakes and fail in the heat of exploring and experimenting new concepts. As humans, It is impossible to have a failure free life, we are curious, love to dig and explore, we are also not perfect or anything like robots, so mistakes will be made and failure will be a huge part of our progress. We cannot ignore that we will experience opposition and resistance especially as we embrace our uniqueness and difference.
Michael Jordan is a perfect example of an artist/creative who pushed through the odds and all manner of opposition excelling not only as a professional basketball player but as an entrepreneur and spokesperson. He formed himself into an all-time star and legend that billions people admire, respect and follow
“I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life.” Michael Jordan
Yet Michael Jordan has the title of the greatest basketball player of all time, he made basketball relevant and attractive to billions of people worldwide. Throughout the documentary ‘The last dance’ we see that Michael had a unique perspective towards failure and opposition. In any event where there was loss or an opposing force, it would fuel his winner’s mindset. Jordan’s mind couldn’t accept that someone was better than him. So on many occasions when there was the opportunity of opposition or failure, it was the engine for him to do much better.
J.K. Rowling said it best “Your conception of failure might not be too far removed from the average person’s idea of success.”
At the end of the day, it will always come down to perspective and the type of lens by which you choose to see through, failure is therefore subjective. But it just takes the making of a decision and choosing to see failure with a completely different lens. So if you know that your lens and perspective towards failure is more negative and distorted, step back and understand why.
Tips
Get comfortable and cosy with the high probability that you will fail - then get up and try again
Redefine failure! - give it a new name and choose a different and more healthier way to see it.
We are all artists, we have skills and techniques that make us unique to the person next to us and while our talent and skill is great, cultivating a success mindset is even greater and more powerful.