Endless Possibility– Now at Principle Gallery
Listen to Mustn’ts, child, listen to the Don’ts.
Listen to the Shouldn’ts, the Impossibles, the Won’ts.
Listen to the Never Haves, then listen close to me.
Anything can happen, child, Anything can be.
–Shel Silverstein
Why do we so often set limits on ourselves? Is it because of fear? Laziness? An unwillingness to venture outside of that which we know and have already experienced? A lack of confidence or courage?
Is it a case of thinking it better to have never tried rather than having to face potential failure?
There are a multitude of other reasons for this self-limitation. I think we all have our reasons for our own stagnancy, for not taking risks, for not attempting to reach those bigger desires we hold inside.
Are they valid reasons?
I can’t say for anyone other than myself. And for myself, I know they are just excuses in the hopes of avoiding having to face the regret of not having tried.
I know those regrets firsthand and despise them. They are worse than failure. They make me want to go bigger and bigger, to venture further out from the shore.
And I will.
Actually, this is my normal pep talk that comes in that depressing lull that normally comes after a show. I’ve written about it before. This precipitous fall in mood in the aftermath of a show happens to a lot of artists. The goal that was there before has been reached and all that remains is the question of what the next destination will be and whether you should even attempt to reach it.
Luckily for me, for the past 20+ years I have had my July West End Gallery show immediately in front of me after my June Principle Gallery exhibit. It doesn’t give me time to mope too much. Not that I don’t, for at least a while, especially during this week immediately after the show opening.
Having that next destination set makes this week easier to endure. It also makes me want to blast much larger and bolder with my work because in the end, it is the work and not the show that is the destination.
Pep talk done. Mission accomplished. I want to get back to work so get on your own goddamn boat and get out of here. I got my destination and you got your’s.
Redtree Times 
We often get told that we can’t, and, that’s when everything we want to do, everything we dream of, becoming, ends, and, the adults who’d told us those, “bad words”, probably, got told these same, “bad words” by their own, adults, which is why, they’d, passed this, sense of, negation of the self, down to us, and, if we’re, unaware like them too, we will, pass it down, to the, next generations to, come…and, there are going to be, a world full of, people who can’t, affirm themselves…and, this world might as well have, ended.
Gary, I’ve been listening to a lot of singer-songwriters these days. And one of the newer ones whose writing I really like is Ashley McBryde. She has become a pretty big country star overnight (like a decade later). In line with your quote at the top I’d like to suggest the song “Girl Goin’ Nowhere”.
On another note, The show looked really strong. I wish I could have attended. Sadly, Sherry has put me on a GC Myers budget for the rest of this year…