Ceara Comeau's Blog: Lessons From A Struggling Writer - Posts Tagged "volunteer"
Artists of Tomorrow
Attention all writers! I have an amazing experience to share with you. And if you’re not a writer, don’t tune me out just yet. This post is really for anyone in the realm of the arts.
Within the last several weeks, I’ve been given the honor of conducting a writer’s workshop for a charter school in my area. And as each week goes by, I can’t help but be inspired by these students and their creativity! One student is working on a magical fantasy world, another student is learning the ropes of the horror genre, another student is developing her spy novel, and there’s even one working on an amazing historical fantasy! But, there’s one student, in particular, who absolutely amazed me. This past week, he finally welcomed me into his amazing science fiction world that blew me away! He showed me dozens of scrolls which had family trees and decrees written out on them. He had countless binders filled with ideas for his world and he’s got fifteen languages going! These ideas span throughout over ninety books! But the most amazing part was, he JUST started formulating these ideas only a year ago.
“Okay, Ceara, you’re bragging now.”
Heck yes, I’m bragging! Want to know why? Because these students are the future. Crazy thought, right? Well, not really. See, writers and artists of today aren’t going to live forever, sad to say, but it’s true. And we don’t often think about that. But maybe we should start.
If you’re a writer or really deal with any art form, might I encourage you to go into the schools near you and talk to students? Teachers are always looking for new workshops that their students might enjoy and they don’t know that you’re out there unless you introduce yourselves.
“I’m not a teacher, I can’t talk to the students!”
(Teachers, please skip over what I’m about to say).
YOU. DON’T. HAVE. TO. BE! Think I said that loud enough 😉 I’m not a teacher, not by a long shot, nor do I intend to go on out and get a degree in teaching. It’s simply not necessary. Experience is sometimes the best “teaching degree”. And, you want to know a secret that many people miss? Most, if not all, times students will listen more to people who AREN’T teachers.
“Well, okay, so I don’t have to be a teacher. But what if I don’t want to teach kids? I’ve got to focus on my (fill in art form here)!”
Sure, that’s totally your prerogative. Consider this, though. Your art form, whatever it may be, could potentially die out. *GASP* Yes, I just said that. It might seem dramatic, I understand, but Baby Boomers and Generation X are in their 50-70s. And the youngest Millennials have reached (approximately) the age of 20! Generation Z is our future, people.
I’ve heard it time and time again of the older generations complaining about kids. “They’re too lazy”, “They’re ungrateful”, “They’re too impatient”, “They’re (fill in the blank)”. We can change that, in fact, we’re the only ones who can!
Let me be real with you. Whether you’re an actor, digital artist, painter, cartoonist, writer, poet, musician, or any other medium of art. We ALL have an obligation to encourage the youth. Educate them in their field of interest. Show them they’re not alone and that we have their backs. Because the children of today will become the artists of tomorrow.
Within the last several weeks, I’ve been given the honor of conducting a writer’s workshop for a charter school in my area. And as each week goes by, I can’t help but be inspired by these students and their creativity! One student is working on a magical fantasy world, another student is learning the ropes of the horror genre, another student is developing her spy novel, and there’s even one working on an amazing historical fantasy! But, there’s one student, in particular, who absolutely amazed me. This past week, he finally welcomed me into his amazing science fiction world that blew me away! He showed me dozens of scrolls which had family trees and decrees written out on them. He had countless binders filled with ideas for his world and he’s got fifteen languages going! These ideas span throughout over ninety books! But the most amazing part was, he JUST started formulating these ideas only a year ago.
“Okay, Ceara, you’re bragging now.”
Heck yes, I’m bragging! Want to know why? Because these students are the future. Crazy thought, right? Well, not really. See, writers and artists of today aren’t going to live forever, sad to say, but it’s true. And we don’t often think about that. But maybe we should start.
If you’re a writer or really deal with any art form, might I encourage you to go into the schools near you and talk to students? Teachers are always looking for new workshops that their students might enjoy and they don’t know that you’re out there unless you introduce yourselves.
“I’m not a teacher, I can’t talk to the students!”
(Teachers, please skip over what I’m about to say).
YOU. DON’T. HAVE. TO. BE! Think I said that loud enough 😉 I’m not a teacher, not by a long shot, nor do I intend to go on out and get a degree in teaching. It’s simply not necessary. Experience is sometimes the best “teaching degree”. And, you want to know a secret that many people miss? Most, if not all, times students will listen more to people who AREN’T teachers.
“Well, okay, so I don’t have to be a teacher. But what if I don’t want to teach kids? I’ve got to focus on my (fill in art form here)!”
Sure, that’s totally your prerogative. Consider this, though. Your art form, whatever it may be, could potentially die out. *GASP* Yes, I just said that. It might seem dramatic, I understand, but Baby Boomers and Generation X are in their 50-70s. And the youngest Millennials have reached (approximately) the age of 20! Generation Z is our future, people.
I’ve heard it time and time again of the older generations complaining about kids. “They’re too lazy”, “They’re ungrateful”, “They’re too impatient”, “They’re (fill in the blank)”. We can change that, in fact, we’re the only ones who can!
Let me be real with you. Whether you’re an actor, digital artist, painter, cartoonist, writer, poet, musician, or any other medium of art. We ALL have an obligation to encourage the youth. Educate them in their field of interest. Show them they’re not alone and that we have their backs. Because the children of today will become the artists of tomorrow.
Pick Your Battles
Picture this: You are juggling four projects; all are pretty time sensitive. One happens to be your writing, which takes most of your time whether it’s the actual writing or marketing. Then you have a small personal project on the side that ideally, you want to be done at a certain time. But along with those two things, you are tasked with two big volunteer projects that not only take more time than you expected but in some ways ask more from you than you’d like.
Now, if you’re like me. You might have initially thought that you could handle all projects and get them done on time with no struggles, despite the fact you also have a number of events to attend the month the volunteer projects are due. In a fantasy world, this would be realistic, but not this in one. That’s something I had to find out the hard way.
You see, a few weeks back, I was talking to a writer friend at an event regarding some of the situations that I’d been dealing with regarding one of the volunteer situations. He smiled at me and nodded his head, seemingly reflecting back on his own past. He said to me, “Congratulations, you’ve graduated to [Senior] author! Many authors are stuck in that [honeymoon] phase.”
I laughed quite a bit at this and felt so much relief that I wasn’t alone and this was normal. That’s not to say doing volunteer work is bad, it’s great! But it becomes a problem when you spread yourself so thin that, like me, you put your real work; the work that pays the bills, off to the side. I came to a point where I put away my writing, reading, and stuff that made me happy just to help other people. I know this goes without saying, but that’s not the right way to go about things.
If you’re in a position where people are coming to you for volunteer work or help or something that could potentially put your primary goals/work off to the side. It’s perfectly acceptable to say, “No thank you, I’m not interested.”
The unplanned projects, and at times the consequences of some, put me so far back, that even my emotions and energy were drained. I literally had to force myself to stop and do something that made me happy. And let me tell you, that was a challenge. I love to help and encourage people, but I can’t do that if I don’t respect myself enough to know when enough is enough. That I have too much on my plate.
You might not be a writer or an artist of any sort. Maybe you’re a business person or work as a cashier. This kind of situation applies to anyone of any age. Choose your battles wisely. Know what your limits are and don’t do what I did and try to convince yourself that you can push just a bit farther. It’s unhealthy and in the long run, it will wear you down.
Now, if you’re like me. You might have initially thought that you could handle all projects and get them done on time with no struggles, despite the fact you also have a number of events to attend the month the volunteer projects are due. In a fantasy world, this would be realistic, but not this in one. That’s something I had to find out the hard way.
You see, a few weeks back, I was talking to a writer friend at an event regarding some of the situations that I’d been dealing with regarding one of the volunteer situations. He smiled at me and nodded his head, seemingly reflecting back on his own past. He said to me, “Congratulations, you’ve graduated to [Senior] author! Many authors are stuck in that [honeymoon] phase.”
I laughed quite a bit at this and felt so much relief that I wasn’t alone and this was normal. That’s not to say doing volunteer work is bad, it’s great! But it becomes a problem when you spread yourself so thin that, like me, you put your real work; the work that pays the bills, off to the side. I came to a point where I put away my writing, reading, and stuff that made me happy just to help other people. I know this goes without saying, but that’s not the right way to go about things.
If you’re in a position where people are coming to you for volunteer work or help or something that could potentially put your primary goals/work off to the side. It’s perfectly acceptable to say, “No thank you, I’m not interested.”
The unplanned projects, and at times the consequences of some, put me so far back, that even my emotions and energy were drained. I literally had to force myself to stop and do something that made me happy. And let me tell you, that was a challenge. I love to help and encourage people, but I can’t do that if I don’t respect myself enough to know when enough is enough. That I have too much on my plate.
You might not be a writer or an artist of any sort. Maybe you’re a business person or work as a cashier. This kind of situation applies to anyone of any age. Choose your battles wisely. Know what your limits are and don’t do what I did and try to convince yourself that you can push just a bit farther. It’s unhealthy and in the long run, it will wear you down.
