Art Dad

We live in a fatherless society. The culture is coddling us. Everywhere you look, trigger warnings, disclaimers. Everyone's trying to be... as inoffensive as possible, playing it safe and shielding themselves from experiencing any type of pain. That may sound good to some people, but for an artist? That's suicide. As Zoe Kravitz said in an interview recently, it's a scary time to have a different opinion or to make controversial art. She's right.

And that's precisely why we have to. Today we are reading from the book of Transformation. The Mystery School? What's that? The Mystery School is an online program that helps creatives all over the world conquer the biggest obstacle they face. Themselves. Enroll today at makeartnotcontent.com. So I finally saw the movie Whiplash last year. If you don't know it, it's about a music teacher who puts his students through hell to get the best out of them.

And then gets fired for his methods. I don't think people understood what it was I was doing at Schaefer. I wasn't there to conduct. I was there to push people beyond what's expected of them. I believe that is... An absolute necessity. Otherwise, we're depriving the world of the next Louis Armstrong, the next Charlie Parker. Okay, maybe it makes for good cinema, but in real life, abuse is not the answer. That's not the kind of father figure that you need.

You need a voice inside your head that's preaching discipline. Yes. And taking risks. Yes. And encouraging you to do things that make you feel uncomfortable. Yes. The kind of father figure Venus Williams had. I honestly believe discipline is freedom. discipline, you get what you want.

When you don't have discipline, you do not get any of what you want. You're free to live your dream. You're free to do the things that you love. And then you start to come to love the discipline. And then when you don't have the discipline, that's when the anxiety sets in because you know you're not paying the price. price and if you don't pay the price you get nothing so you got to pay the price and then the world is open to you but what about empathy can't father figures show empathy

My version of empathy is getting you to do what's necessary now so you don't feel like shit later. I can't speak this way to everybody because people take it so wrong and so sensitive. I'm telling you right now, man. Empathy, there's a spot for it, but not when you're trying to be great. Thick skin, the tough way is the only way. Sorry, but I know.

All those permission posts on Instagram are telling you differently. They're saying things like, it's okay to take a week off. Don't force it. Mama loves you. Papa loves you too.

and it's time to work. Father figures throughout history are typically the ones who foster your dormant traits. Traits like being okay doing things that won't make you feel good right away and accepting the pain of that journey with honor people hate that they think happiness is only about doing the things that you want to do and that's why they never find it

Most people don't know this, but there's a brain structure called the anterior mid-cingulate cortex. What's interesting about this brain area is there are now a lot of data in humans showing that when people do something they don't want to do. this brain area gets bigger. It's larger in athletes. It's especially large in people that see themselves as challenged and overcome some challenge.

I don't want to do something but do it anyway. That's right. That grows this area. And in people that live a very long time, this area keeps its size. In many ways, scientists are starting to think of the anterior mid-cingulate cortex not just as one of the seats of willpower, but perhaps actually the seat of the will to live. What? Doing the things you're afraid of or that are difficult or that cause you discomfort are all versions of your shadow side that need to be explored.

Without this exploration, any art you make will be empty. So maybe it's time to embrace some difficulty, to give yourself some tough love.

Combine these stoic traits with your feminine creative energy and you will become a creative god. That's one thing that the Whiplash movie gets absolutely right. Sacrifice. You can't be the greatest of all time without sacrifice. It's physically impossible. As Busta Rhymes would say, the math doesn't math without great sacrifice there is no such thing as great reward can't have one there's no that math will never math you know what i'm saying you have to be a little maniacal with the

You gotta be selfish. That word isn't good in a lot of situations, but when you're pursuing your destiny, you have to be uncompromising. It don't matter how fucked up that shit might look. There's a whole industry in place to sugarcoat things for you. That is not my role. My role is truth lotion. And the truth is, it's time to outwork everybody.

And to stop getting your advice from TikTok. If you could give one piece of advice to someone younger than you, what would you say? Do everything you can to keep your life balanced. No. Don't put all your eggs in proverbially one basket. In other words, don't focus exclusively on... Gross. Gross.

then you've got the other things. I understand why advice like this is so attractive. He's trying to save you from having the experience of potential failure. I'm trying to save you from the experience of having guaranteed failure. Listen, right now is the time to be lopsided. Avoid balance. That's the wrong way of using your youth. Most people won't even understand what I'm saying to you because they're at another stage in their life.

They might call you selfish. Or they might tell you that you're being too serious. Maybe you are. But just understand, you're not going to be like this forever. This is just a chapter. A chapter of hardcore discipline, immense sacrifice, outsized risk, being okay doing the things that don't make you feel good right away. and accepting the pain and loneliness of that journey with honor? This chapter of your life right now is the chapter of total dedication to your craft.

Connect with that selfish part of you right now. You gotta be selfish. This is your villain era. Immerse yourself into art and live without any sense of balance or borders until you've discovered where your true power That's what any respectable art dad would tell you. Conform to society later. After you've created your legendary story.