Help or Hinderance? How to help others without creating frustration for you and others.

Over the years, I have seen many examples of artists helping artists.  We tend to lift each other up and try to give guidance to those who are starting their careers.  If we are lucky, we get to see these artists take off and soar.  Frequently, they tend to burn out or loose focus.  It is very frustrating when we see true genius, burn out and give up.  I have known so many creative talents stand on the edge of greatness and turn and walk from the edge.  It is their choice to do so.

When we see someone who’s talent we admire, ride success to arrogance; it really pisses us off.  I’ll admit it, I have no patience for someone being an ass.  Here is the thing; throwing a fit over it accomplishes nothing.  Over the years I have seen this happen time and time again.  Some of these people we have helped, ended up being jerks for years.  It never lasts, sooner or later their crappy conduct catches up with them.  The show organizers get tired of complaints, buyers no longer stop at their displays, and artistic mentors no longer take their calls.  They must start over somewhere else and if they are smart, the recognize the error of their ways.  Idiots end up blaming everyone around them and go find an hourly wage job.

What is the moral of this blog?  Help people out as you can, know it is not for you to own other’s choices or bad behavior and learn to recognize when you need to back off so they can learn their life lessons.  We should help each other but, rescuing people over and over never helps them learn anything.  Sometimes the best thing we can do is let them face the consequences of their actions.  We can watch from a distance, I’ve had people do that for me (Yes I can be an idiot too).  The greatest feeling is earning back the respect of your peers.  We are all human, and while pride commeth before the fall; life lessons are valuable and tend to stick better than any advice we can give.