When LeBron James confidently (or arrogantly, depending on who you talk to) stated after a loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the 2015 NBA Finals that he was "the best player in the world", a lot of people threw shade. They were down 3 games to 2. His All-Star teammates, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were out of the series due to injury. LeBron had scored 123 total points over the first three games of the series, an NBA Finals record. He was averaging 45 minutes and 36.6 points per game. No one was picking the Cavs to win this series. A reporter had asked him why was he still so confident.
I, for one, wouldn't have expected him to answer that question any differently. You don't get to where LeBron is in his world without having confidence in yourself and your abilities. A reporter asked a question and he gave an answer that, although debatable, couldn't really be refuted at that time. And even though his team lost that series, he brought the (healthy) Cavs right back the next season and beat the Warriors in Game 7 (after being down 3 games to 1) to win Cleveland's first NBA championship and the first sports title in 42 years.
Each and every one of us have our own gifts to offer the world. As a writer, I am always trying to find ways to improve my craft. Often times, others come to me for advice on being a better writer and my message is always the same: Until you believe in your gifts, nothing that I can say will work for you.
Or in other words: Know your dopeness!
While you will probably never hear me say that I am the best writer, poet, MC, etc., in the world, I've put a lot of work into what I've done. It took me a long time to admit to myself that I thought I was good, even longer to be able to say it to others. People who have asked me what makes me confident in the work I have done may have heard me say things like "I know my shit is dope!" or something along the lines of "I write for me first". This is not to say that I don't doubt my ability from time to time. Like I said, I am always looking to improve, to become a better writer, to broaded my subject matter. When I have an idea for a novel or a poem or even a screenplay, I try to capture those moments as soon as they come to me. Not every idea is good, but I know a few of them can be if I develop them fully and put in the work to make them as good as possible. I may ask people who are writers to check out what I have and I may ask some non-writers to do the same. It isn't for validation, though. It's usually for any constructive criticism these individuals may have to offer. But whenever I put forth the effort to write anything, I always feel like the finished product is pretty dope. If I didn't feel that way, I wouldn't have thought it was worth it to write in the first place. If I didn't feel like people would read my blog, I wouldn't post (and I KNOW, I need to post more often).
I feel that I am a pretty dope writer. There is nothing wrong with me saying it, so I don't have any problem saying it.
I know people who are dope painters, artists, writers, sculptors, singers, graphic designers, poets, spoken word artists, etc., who either don't believe they are dope or have a problem actually saying it. A good friend of mine, who I think is an awesome writer, feels like she needs some sort of training in creative writing before she can offer her gifts to the world. I feel like one of the biggest hurdles creatives face, especially those of us who are Black, is the idea that we have to be certified in our crafts to be viewed as "good". I'm not saying that attending a workshop here and there can't help you in honing your craft but some of history's greatest creatives weren't formally trained. They didn't have to be. Art comes from the heart, not from a classroom or an online course in grammar or creative writing.
I think when one begins to question their dopeness, or if they are any good at what they do, it may be that they are losing their passion for their craft. Or they may not have been real passionate about it in the first place. A lot of times, we are blessed with natural talent that we just go with that talent because it comes generally easy to us. As we work towards our goals with our gifts, things may begin to feel like a chore. It begins to feel like work. You are starting to not love your gift. You are beginning to feel like you are wasting your time.
SO WHAT DO YOU DO?
Ask yourself, "What is it that I want to get out of my gift?"
For me, writing gives me a sense of freedom. I love to speak freely on topics that mean something to me and that I know means something to those who I am close to and who may think like I do. It's not hard at all for me to write, when I actually get the time to do so. The hard part is pushing myself to stay on track with the goals I have. I already have one published book, but life has sort of gotten in the way and I am trying to push through this holding pattern and move on to new projects for myself and other authors. What I want is to use my abilities to continuously keep publishing my work, develop screenplays (maybe sell one and see it become a movie!), publish other authors, maybe write for online productions and one day move to Maine and continue my career as a writer of novels and short stories from my cabin in the mountains or on the coast. Very specific, I know! But all of that is where my passion lies. I don't have any doubt that as along as I continue to stay on track with my craft, because I do truly believe in my dopeness, that I can make all of that a reality.
Is it really that simple? For me, it is. I see in other people that it isn't for them, and that is ok. It wasn't always that simple for me and it took others coaxing me and letting me know that they thought I was dope for it to start to sink in. When people actually purchased my book, I began to really believe it. Sometimes, we just need others to believe in us to give us the validation we need. A lot of times, though, we have a whole tribe of people believing in us and we still doubt our abilities. If this is where you are as a creative of any sort, it may take you stepping out of your comfort zone and taking some risks for you to finally recognize your own dopeness. Maybe you're an aritst and you've never done a show. Maybe you are a writer but you've never tried to publish your work, or your efforts to get published haven't been fruitful. Sometimes, we have to go back to the drawing board, re-evaluate our efforts and/ or strategies and push forward with a renewed sense of motivation. There may be times where we actually have to re-evaluate our path, go back to zero and move in a completely different direction than the one we were initially on. Sometimes, we are good at a number of things and we just have to find the one thing that we are great at.
Success never comes easy. We will have many doors closed, sometimes slammed in our faces. Some people may see what we are doing and go out of their way to prevent us from succeeding. All of that is to be expected. It will test our spirit and our resolve. It will make us better. It will help us clearly determine our path and make our dopeness that much clearer.
LOOK YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR AND SAY "I'M THE BEST __________ IN THE WORLD!"
Your championship awaits.
Each and every one of us have our own gifts to offer the world. As a writer, I am always trying to find ways to improve my craft. Often times, others come to me for advice on being a better writer and my message is always the same: Until you believe in your gifts, nothing that I can say will work for you.
Or in other words: Know your dopeness!
While you will probably never hear me say that I am the best writer, poet, MC, etc., in the world, I've put a lot of work into what I've done. It took me a long time to admit to myself that I thought I was good, even longer to be able to say it to others. People who have asked me what makes me confident in the work I have done may have heard me say things like "I know my shit is dope!" or something along the lines of "I write for me first". This is not to say that I don't doubt my ability from time to time. Like I said, I am always looking to improve, to become a better writer, to broaded my subject matter. When I have an idea for a novel or a poem or even a screenplay, I try to capture those moments as soon as they come to me. Not every idea is good, but I know a few of them can be if I develop them fully and put in the work to make them as good as possible. I may ask people who are writers to check out what I have and I may ask some non-writers to do the same. It isn't for validation, though. It's usually for any constructive criticism these individuals may have to offer. But whenever I put forth the effort to write anything, I always feel like the finished product is pretty dope. If I didn't feel that way, I wouldn't have thought it was worth it to write in the first place. If I didn't feel like people would read my blog, I wouldn't post (and I KNOW, I need to post more often).
I feel that I am a pretty dope writer. There is nothing wrong with me saying it, so I don't have any problem saying it.
I know people who are dope painters, artists, writers, sculptors, singers, graphic designers, poets, spoken word artists, etc., who either don't believe they are dope or have a problem actually saying it. A good friend of mine, who I think is an awesome writer, feels like she needs some sort of training in creative writing before she can offer her gifts to the world. I feel like one of the biggest hurdles creatives face, especially those of us who are Black, is the idea that we have to be certified in our crafts to be viewed as "good". I'm not saying that attending a workshop here and there can't help you in honing your craft but some of history's greatest creatives weren't formally trained. They didn't have to be. Art comes from the heart, not from a classroom or an online course in grammar or creative writing.
I think when one begins to question their dopeness, or if they are any good at what they do, it may be that they are losing their passion for their craft. Or they may not have been real passionate about it in the first place. A lot of times, we are blessed with natural talent that we just go with that talent because it comes generally easy to us. As we work towards our goals with our gifts, things may begin to feel like a chore. It begins to feel like work. You are starting to not love your gift. You are beginning to feel like you are wasting your time.
SO WHAT DO YOU DO?
Ask yourself, "What is it that I want to get out of my gift?"
For me, writing gives me a sense of freedom. I love to speak freely on topics that mean something to me and that I know means something to those who I am close to and who may think like I do. It's not hard at all for me to write, when I actually get the time to do so. The hard part is pushing myself to stay on track with the goals I have. I already have one published book, but life has sort of gotten in the way and I am trying to push through this holding pattern and move on to new projects for myself and other authors. What I want is to use my abilities to continuously keep publishing my work, develop screenplays (maybe sell one and see it become a movie!), publish other authors, maybe write for online productions and one day move to Maine and continue my career as a writer of novels and short stories from my cabin in the mountains or on the coast. Very specific, I know! But all of that is where my passion lies. I don't have any doubt that as along as I continue to stay on track with my craft, because I do truly believe in my dopeness, that I can make all of that a reality.
Is it really that simple? For me, it is. I see in other people that it isn't for them, and that is ok. It wasn't always that simple for me and it took others coaxing me and letting me know that they thought I was dope for it to start to sink in. When people actually purchased my book, I began to really believe it. Sometimes, we just need others to believe in us to give us the validation we need. A lot of times, though, we have a whole tribe of people believing in us and we still doubt our abilities. If this is where you are as a creative of any sort, it may take you stepping out of your comfort zone and taking some risks for you to finally recognize your own dopeness. Maybe you're an aritst and you've never done a show. Maybe you are a writer but you've never tried to publish your work, or your efforts to get published haven't been fruitful. Sometimes, we have to go back to the drawing board, re-evaluate our efforts and/ or strategies and push forward with a renewed sense of motivation. There may be times where we actually have to re-evaluate our path, go back to zero and move in a completely different direction than the one we were initially on. Sometimes, we are good at a number of things and we just have to find the one thing that we are great at.
Success never comes easy. We will have many doors closed, sometimes slammed in our faces. Some people may see what we are doing and go out of their way to prevent us from succeeding. All of that is to be expected. It will test our spirit and our resolve. It will make us better. It will help us clearly determine our path and make our dopeness that much clearer.
LOOK YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR AND SAY "I'M THE BEST __________ IN THE WORLD!"
Your championship awaits.
Yesssss Max. All of this
ReplyDeleteYes! I go to teach shortly. Finishing this right before...a true gift. Thank you!
ReplyDelete