It’s a dilemma I often come across in my creative life.
When you meet someone who shows raw talent is it right for you to help them try to fulfill their ‘dreams’.
Because the reality is that talent isn’t anywhere near enough to ‘succeed’ and that can be a bitter pill to swallow.
Also how do you even begin to define success???
Is it just being good at what you do??? Trying to be as true and original as you can be whilst pushing the boundaries of your creativity or does it rely on making good money out of your craft???
Maybe it’s easy for me to say but I don’t think ‘success’ lies in the monetary value of your work but in the sense of personal satisfaction you get from producing it.
I don’t want to raise false hope. It’s a tough, ruthless industry and there’s no yellow brick road to fame and fortune.
A lot of the time it’s waves of rejection and disappointment before you ever get a ride of any kind and even then you never know how long the ride will last before it dumps you back out at sea – just trying to stay afloat.
I’m endlessly optimistic, passionate and upbeat – both for my own ambitions and also for those aspiring talents I come across, but I sometimes I question the journey we take in pursuit of our dreams.
Not so much for myself as the path I might set others on when the reality is that their dreams are better left undisturbed.

smoke by guynamio samuda