Taking Chances

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”  We live in a world that is, in so many ways, about maintenance.  Keeping the society running, and the gears turning.  That, however, is not what art is about, and does not need to be what anyone’s life is.  It is important to recognize that if everybody decided to risk it all and change the world with billions of different ideas, one of two things would happen: the world would be drastically different, or the world would fall apart. 

That’s what risk is.  More than that, it is the understanding and acceptance that not everything you do will work, but something might.

In art, it means making the uncommon choice, and challenging yourself and those around you to create something truly unique.  Sometimes, your end product will be terrible, confusing, and highly criticized.  And that’s okay.  We, in the arts, have an uncommon gift that we often overlook, or do not want to admit: when we fail, people don’t usually get hurt.

That is precisely why we have an actual RESPONSIBILITY to take chances.  Impressionists took a chance and gave the world a new way of thinking from the realistic portraits that came before then.  Modern art just...well, was modern art, and was certainly a reflection of the risks and realities of a changing time.  Every movement is a risk that, ultimately, expands the minds of the society that motivated it.

As usual, I do not wish to simply speak to the specific effects of this concept on my field, but I’d like to try and convey a wider message to those who might read this. 

Life is about risk.  Every time you find yourself faced with a difficult choice, be completely honest with yourself and ask one simple question.

“What’s the best thing that could happen?”  Not the worst.  Look for the best.  Believe in the success of the risk, because that’s what you care about more anyway.

Ask that girl/guy out.  Take that job that you really want in another city.  Sing that song at karaoke.

Don’t let the fear of failure stop you from doing anything; accept that you will fall many times in life, but you still need to get back up and keep running as hard as you can towards what you want.

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster took a chance in 1938...and created the first superhero.  I'm just saying.