The Face of Rejection
We've all been there. You feel stuck. Feel like things aren't moving forward or going exactly the way you planned. Life be life-ing and you were not prepared. The chips fell and they all rolled into the gutter, down the drain, and into your local river. It sucks!
As an artist, what can this look like?
Rejection, rejection, rejection! And each one doesn't get easier, feel any better. It's another notch that must be added to that tattered old belt. I've been feeling the tightening of that belt lately, desperately gasping for the breath of acceptance. Every festival, program, etc. that I've applied to I hear, "Nope, nah-uh, not today!"
After a while, that gets pretty hard to hear. You want to win. You want to be the chosen. You want to be the precious one. Then you have GOT to fight the demons of your thoughts.
"Am I really that good?"
"What's really good? Am I chasing the wrong thing?"
"I told you, you shouldn't have sent that!"
A few weeks ago my friend, Brittany Smith, wrote a post about being prepared but still not being the one. Ah, something we all know too well. Not being "the one" doesn't mean you aren't it. It doesn't mean you aren't crafted, created, molded, and shaped for this very moment. It reminds me of that analogy I used to hear growing up in church. The one about how gold goes through the refining process multiple times before it is rid of all it's impurities. It's constantly put through fire to get to its perfect state. Basically, all these rejections are part of our refining process! It's part of the process and it helps us to build the exact skin, write the right piece, learn the perfect audition side, whatever! It helps to keep us grounded until all the pieces align properly. Then, life has a way of making it right again.
Happened for me. The right door opened after all those rejections.
Keep pushing, even in the face of rejection. It'll make it's comeback in the form of a loosened belt!
And, I'll tell you about the right door that opened later...promise.
