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Am ia writer5/3/2023 …But what you are is the sort of person who’s starting to ask the right questions.“Am I an artist/ Am I not an artist?” …You’re neither.Learn to live with it learn to live in the gray area.You’re neither one of those things, exactly.“Am I awesome?/ Am I not awesome?” …You’re neither.“Negative Capability” - the ability to hold two conflicting ideas in your head at the same time.What you need - yes, you - what you need is a little thing that the poet Keats called “ Negative Capability.”.Listen to me: I wrote for six hours a day, every day, for ten years, before I could even begin to consider myself a writer, before I could really start getting paid for it.…Are you annoyed by that above statement? Did you already think you were a great artist? If so, then you’ll never make it.You’re not there yet, but you’re on your way.“ Am I talented?” No dumb person would ever ask themselves this, and if you are asking yourself this, then you’re on your way.To create art, you have to begin with asking yourself questions.But to return to our actual thesis, in a roundabout way: Is Kim Kardashian an artist?.Is Kim Kardashian currently in the running for one of the Worst Human Beings on the Planet? Why yes.But note the lack of doubt the utter lack of doubt contained within these sentences. “ Are YOU DISSIN’ ME? Yeah you’re dissin’ me, girl!” Or: “ I just don’t get enough respect around this house!”.They’re awful because they never doubt themselves for a single second.Here’s an example a weird example but nonetheless an example: Think of people on reality TV shows.Dumb people, by mere virtue of being dumb, are already convinced of their own innate awesomeness.Dumb people don’t ask themselves such things.If you’re asking such things ( am I an artist), then you’re already on the right track.But at least calm down a bit and in so doing - in so calming down, you can do us both a service. Actually, I don’t really totally mean that you have to stop asking these things.“Oh, god, am I a writer? Am I an artist?”.Within the question itself is contained the answer.
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