We are being appreciated for our work from many people and a small introspection on whether we work only for this appreciation, whether our desire to be appreciated is the motive for our good work, whether we are addictive to those words of praise - all this brought some clarity to my thought.
One is we don't work for appreciation, we are concerned only with the best output. If we start imagining what praise the work is going to bring while still producing the work, it would definitely not bring the best output.
We work for our complete satisfaction. Any kind of art is an expression of our soul, the inner self that's ever evolving, hence when we express ourselves, we don't muddle our mind with future happenings (feedback ). We focus on the work. The concentration on our work is no less than meditation. It's because of this dedication that the work comes out wonderfully.
So doesn't the appreciation that our art gets do anything to us? Are we detached to the praise? Are we so elevated, that appreciation of others doesn't put us on a proud pedestal? Don't we think high of ourselves? Is hearing applause addictive? Let me address these questions now.
Appreciation does something to us. It boosts our morale. It soothes our heart and the aching joints that did the work. It helps in forgetting the pain you would experience on completion of a difficult piece of art, spending hours together. It gives you courage to venture again. You become your own connoisseur. You look at your own work from an outsider's perspective and enjoy the nuances.
One is we don't work for appreciation, we are concerned only with the best output. If we start imagining what praise the work is going to bring while still producing the work, it would definitely not bring the best output.
We work for our complete satisfaction. Any kind of art is an expression of our soul, the inner self that's ever evolving, hence when we express ourselves, we don't muddle our mind with future happenings (feedback ). We focus on the work. The concentration on our work is no less than meditation. It's because of this dedication that the work comes out wonderfully.
So doesn't the appreciation that our art gets do anything to us? Are we detached to the praise? Are we so elevated, that appreciation of others doesn't put us on a proud pedestal? Don't we think high of ourselves? Is hearing applause addictive? Let me address these questions now.
Appreciation does something to us. It boosts our morale. It soothes our heart and the aching joints that did the work. It helps in forgetting the pain you would experience on completion of a difficult piece of art, spending hours together. It gives you courage to venture again. You become your own connoisseur. You look at your own work from an outsider's perspective and enjoy the nuances.
But if we linger more on the beauty of our past work, how do we gear up for future? So once done, though it seems to be new for more and more first time viewers, for us it is something of the past. It won't help us work in the future. We should start seeing ahead. What more? What new? What else? What's for tomorrow? Like that. So we naturally be a little detached.
Appreciation doesn't (shouldn't) make us proud. If it does, it will start being visible in the future outputs. Only a pure heart which is devoid of pride and arrogance can create great works of art. So if you are able to create more and more work, it means you are emptying your mind of any baggage every now and then. Every new attempt is a meditation for you. If you think high of yourself you are not in the ground, if you are not in the ground, how do you create another new production? Like machinery when a day's production is done it has to be cleared of the space giving way to new production. Any baggage here and there would hinder the next day's production.
All said and done, are we addicted to this pleasure of being appreciated? It's too harsh to call it addictive. It's an exchange of positive thought. It takes a large heart to appreciate and by being praised you are interacting with a number of large hearted people everyday. You tend to reciprocate the same feeling and it's not wrong to get addicted to that good thing.
