Stretch them Calves!

When I was a kid, I was naturally flexible. I had this ability to lift my leg and place it on the back of my head. It was a great party trick for third grade me. It looked difficult, but it came easy to me. Nowadays, as you can imagine, ya boy is stiff! I was stripped of this so-called talent of mine when I got older. In fact when I now try reaching for my toes, it sounds like someone is breaking celery. Love that…

I bring that story up because it relates to us as artists. For a lot of us a career in the creative field is uncertain. It is feast or famine. Due to the nature of our work, restrictions will be forced upon us. There will be time limits, budget constraints, and indecisive Patrons. Not to mention the horrors of life itself because we know life loves to beat us with aluminum bats. Things will come our way, and we will be required to change direction on the fly. Aka be flexible.

So what does it mean to be flexible as an artist? It doesn’t mean dropping your artistic vision. It doesn’t mean compromising your integrity. To me flexibility is figuring out the best outcome within your constraints. It means knowing when to shift gears when you hit a dead end. It means if you can’t reach the top percent of your field, carving out a place where you feel fulfilled. It means staying goal oriented instead of spiraling at the first sign of inconvenience. But even I know that’s easier said than done. Because we do be crying. We are crying at the post office.

Here’s my deep dark secret. The truth is, my physical flexibility wasn’t taken away, in fact I lost it because it wasn’t easy for me to do anymore. It takes a lot of effort to be flexible, and I didn’t want to try anymore. Instead of pushing through, I’d rather drop a project and start a new one; hoping that I can get it done in one go without any hiccups. However, this way of thinking might be to our detriment. I told this to the film majors and now I’m telling this to you; things will get a bit rough, and sometimes things won't pay off when you want them to. It’s important to realize now that no matter how well we lay out our plans, things will change. And you’ll have to be okay with that.

It’s to stretch metaphorically. This looks different for everyone. As you start your jobs or work freelance, practice being adaptable. Don’t sweat the details and update your plans in response to your changing circumstances. I’ll say this one more time; Things change. And if you start stretching now, it will mean less pain in the future.