Fear

Fear.

Through the years that I've been in STAC, one of the main ideas that Luke has tried to pound out of everybody is the concept of fear. Everything that we cannot do comes from the root of fear. The fear to disappoint, the fear that we are not good enough, the fear that others will judge us, the fear that we will fail...the list goes on. Fear disguises itself as "laziness, resistance to deadlines, irritation with materials or surrounding, distraction over the achievements of others...anything that keeps you from giving your work your best shot."

When making artwork, we encounter a great amount of fear. Hell, we encounter a great amount of fear even when we are not making artwork. But I think that fear may be one of the reasons why many individuals stop pursing their talents within the arts. Let's say that someone who is in high school has the drawing abilities of someone in 1st grade. A peer sitting next to this person is the same age but has the drawing skills of an artist who is twenty years ahead of their present self. The kid who can't draw as well is discouraged from ever nurturing their potential talent because they're put down by other competition. Julian is a prime example that comes to my mind when it comes to shutting the door in fear's face. He only realized and figured out that he wanted to apply for art school in his senior year and if you ask me, that's pretty damn fearless.

That brings me to my next point: when in the realm of art, competition and those who are better than you shouldn't make you feel insecure about your abilities. You should not feel afraid of the possibility that you will never be as talented as someone whose work hangs on the walls of museums. You should however, feel compelled to spit in fear's face. You should feel determined and ready to jump the hurdles that are necessary in order to one day see your artwork among the reigns of greatness. Those who are better than you in what you want to pursue should become a model of what you want to achieve and someday even surpass.

Let them function as a beacon of light, not a hopeless abyss of darkness.

"On the other side of fear is freedom."