Art/Work Ch. 1-2

"No priority is better or worse - it's your definition of success that matters and on one else's - and each one calls for a different approach.

This sentence really hit me deep. As a people pleaser, I constantly struggle to maintain a balance with my passions; with what truly makes me happy. I tend to put others' desires before mine which drains the living hell out of me. Last year I applied to a technical college and was admitted first thing. I only did this to try to please a person whose real name I shall not mention... let's just use Frank as their name. Frank is the father of my best friend and has always shown disappointment towards my art education. I applied to this stupid college because I thought if I dropped everything that I had in Commerce to pursue a career in electrical engineering, Frank would finally approve of me; he will finally respect my work. Well, am I really stupid enough to do this? Sort of. I began the process of talking to academic advisors from this stupid college. I cannot believe I did this. I feel dumb even writing about it. Anyway, long story short, I dropped everything I was doing because I realized that I was becoming someone Frank wanted me to be. I was losing myself and slowly becoming an ideal version of someone else's dream. I began to do the things I loved again and started to find my true self again because I knew that is what success was for me. That is how I defined success; to chase your dreams, to be happy being myself, to do what I love. My definition of success wasn't studying electrical engineering. That sounds so damn miserable to me. 

While reading the first pages, I am reminded of my own desires for my work to be put into galleries. The more I read about it through this book, the more I draw on this conclusion that it's challenging for one's work to be featured in a gallery. 

I admire how the authors of this book really took it to the next level by interviewing gallerists, curators, accountants, lawyers, and artists. And, it's even more admiring that the authors reconnected with the same people eight years later. It takes immense dedication to do work like this but it's necessary at the end day so society can be aware that the art world is freaking tough.