Artists Tell Us to Slow Down, Capitalists Tell Us to Hurry Up

Artists are like canoe paddlers and capitalists are like ship captains. Both want to reach the shore. Both are in search of something.

I am not sure of the latter, but the former, the canoe paddlers, will definitely find their shore.

How come?

Because they are slow and steady. They are not in a hurry and hence less likely to go astray.

Art flows like a river

Art comes from the heart. Art flows like a river. It takes its own time. If you force it, it either gets choked or overflows violently.

So it should be allowed to flow naturally. When it flows naturally, it flows slowly but surely, reaching its destination, its shore.

Someone rightly said that art is the making of the art.

Look at some of the best paintings ever created. Some even took decades!

Why so?

Every single one of those masterpieces was created at the pace of nature. Like water droplets falling and making a dent in a stone.

Emerson said:

Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.

When something is created at the pace of nature it is bound to be extraordinary.

Productivity is like a hedonic treadmill

The rest of humanity is of the opinion that everything be done, or rather achieved, as soon as possible. For example: constructing a bridge, finishing a project, etc.

We are always in a hurry to finish it. To reach an elusive “there.”

Why? Why are we in such a hurry to reach there?

Because “here” does not feel good for long. Here does not feel good to those whose minds are corrupt.

So we rush. So we hurry only to find that the goalpost has shifted again.

But what do we really achieve by hurrying? We will reach our deathbed a little quicker, that's it!

By slowing down, we have achieved some outstanding marvels that might probably outlive humanity.

By rushing, even if we achieve something, it will be so ephemeral and inconsequential.

But what do we really achieve by hurrying?

What should we do then?

We must balance somehow! We have to walk the middle path.

I am guilty of rushing all the same. I am also guilty of being discontented with the present moment.

To live free of any kind of sickness, I feel we should adopt the pace of nature, like artists do. But to survive in this world we need to adopt the pace of humanity as well.

In this modern world, in this modern civilisation, most of us cannot afford the luxury of creating only art. Nor can we afford to go mad like Goghs and Vincis to create a masterpiece.

Most of us need to do boring work to earn our sustenance. And that can only be done at the pace of productivity. It cannot be done at the pace of nature.

Some people are fortunate to have a job or business that gives them ample time on the side to tend to their creative pursuits (They should never let go of their inner artist, their inner child who wants to create, whether its art or music or something else).

Then there are those who take their time, create art, and earn livelihood from it too. For eg., one of my favorite writers, Lawrence Yeo, on the internet sometimes takes months to write just one long-form article but still sustains himself.

However, most of us can only aspire to do both and balance somehow. And balance we must until we take the leap!