A Unique Introduction

Sometime in middle school, when I was probably 12 or 13 years old a teacher made a casual comment to me one day as we happened to be walking along together in the hall that left me absolutely bewildered. They said I was a leader among my peers! I don’t remember much beyond that, probably because the seeming absurdity of that statement left me stunned and confused.

In no way shape or form did I see myself as a leader, and I highly doubt my peers did either. I thought of a leader as someone who had a lot of followers, friends, or was an important member of a large clique of people. None of this really described me. I had a few friends and was generally accepted on the fringes of most of the groups of other students. I don’t think anyone really thought of me as part of any of these groups though except perhaps the catch all group of social freaks that don’t quite fit in anywhere. In fact, if I remember correctly this was probably during a time I was actively being antisocial, defining myself as something of a loner. Yet here was this teacher with all seriousness saying I was a leader?! It just didn’t make sense.

Frankly it remained nonsensical to me for years, yet I never seemed to forget it, perhaps for this very reason. I’ve always been something of the odd duck, the social misfit. I first learned the word “unique” in grade school when it was commonly used as a polite way to describe me.

At some point I think I came to understand what that teacher meant when declaring I was a leader when I realized that a leader is not necessarily someone who is actively trying to lead people. I certainly never was. Often enough I just seem to have a different way of seeing the world, or understanding it, or approaching it, or valuing it, etc. This is probably a major reason why I’m something of a social misfit. Anyway, a positive upside to this is that without trying I can find myself introducing people to new things or ways of thinking simply by being my own weird self. The phrase leading by example probably fits to some degree. I could be wrong, but I think now that this is what that teacher saw in me way back in middle school, that my propensity to be different and go my own way led others to new things as well.

As an artist I feel like this tendency to be a bit out of step with everyone else has been a real boon. It seems to have allowed me, with little conscious effort, to come up with new visions and bodies of work that stand out from the crowd. So as a tip for any other artists out there who are struggling to find your own unique voice it might be worth exploring, if not cultivating, areas where you naturally tend to stray a bit from the crowd. The catch though is that being a bit different can make you a visionary or trend setter. However, if you become too different no one can relate and you drift into the realm of simply being seen as crazy!

Why am I writing all this? It’s a bit of an introduction to this new project I’m taking on. Being a bit of an oddball in most aspects of my life I thought perhaps it could be worthwhile for at least a few others if I shared some of the things I do beyond just my art. I seem to be experimenting with different ways to live. While I’m spending hours hammering away at metalwork my thoughts often latch onto and explore ideas or observations that frequently differ from the mainstream. So I’ve decided I would get back into writing and set about sharing some of this with what are hopefully fairly regular blog posts.

Many years ago I was writing a monthly column for Art Calendar Magazine focused mainly on financial management for artists. (The unedited versions of these are still available on my website.) I expect in this current venture I may have a few more posts on this subject, and may even revisit and update those old essays. Yet I anticipate I’ll be spending more time writing about projects around my homestead, perennial edibles for the garden, wild edibles to forage, food, environmental/ecological topics, and generally things I’m trying that make my life better while hopefully improving our world as a whole. Chris Martenson has a website, www.peakprosperity.com, where I was introduced to the conceptual framework he calls the three E’s. These are the economy, energy, and the environment. He tends to look at these topics from a broader society wide view. I expect to be exploring the three E’s as they relate to an individuals life, probably with a slant to those of us who are artists. These are my thoughts at the moment. Topics may well drift from here as things progress.

A hazard of writing down thoughts is that it tends to solidify them. This can be good in helping me to clarify them for myself. I could be bad if I let the activity cement ideas into personal dogmas which ignore new input that might change them. I’m going to try and not let ideas and beliefs become rigid in my head because I most definitely do not know it all! I’m just wandering along this path we call life trying to figure some things out like everyone else, learning as I go along.

I think that covers everything I wanted to in this general initial introduction of what I’m planning. I apologize that this essay isn’t all that exciting. I needed to start somewhere and felt a general overview would be a useful way to begin. Hopefully you find the thoughts, projects, observations, and musings of my oddball self to be informative, entertaining, and enlightening. Of course you may also find instead I’m straying so far out from your experience as to seem just plain crazy. If that’s the case you may politely smile and declare me “unique”. Thanks for reading.

P.s. I’m happy to have a site where I can again allow comments. (I had to shut them off on my main website because the spam was simply uncontrollable!) So please I encourage you to share thoughts of your own. My general rule about comments though is just to play nice. Differing views are fine, but I’m not interested in engaging in or moderating verbal fights. If I feel things get out of hand, by whatever criteria I decide, I’ll just start blocking or deleting things.