I'm Consistent

There are all kinds of creative people in the world.  There are better writers, artists and photographers than me. Some people are more experienced at these things.  They have more raw talent, more education, more uninterrupted time, and different skill sets than I do.

I am not saying any of this to malign myself. I know I have something special to bring to the table.

At the same time, there are people out there with MFAs in writing. People who write for a living. People with their own well-appointed photo studios, people who paint dreamy landscapes and do not use glue stick as a major element in their art.

There are people who do not write on the subway because they have a grant to go to a writer’s colony. There are people who do not make art on the dining room table. There are people who apologize when they take a picture with an iPhone because it isn't a real camera.

There are people who do not post photographs on Facebook because they have galleries and other venues to sell their work. Their art is in such demand that they are worried that other people will steal it.

Some of these people have blogs and these blogs can be pretty amazing. I am not saying this because I don't love my own blog. I love my own blog. I've made the kind of blog I want to follow. That's saying something.

I was not an early adopter when it came to blogging.  If you started blogging before me, then clearly your blog is in a different place. I am at peace with that. You got here first.

My blog has fans. If you are a fan of my blog, then thank you for your support. My blogging started because I wanted to share my writing and art and do the kind of writing and art that I like to read and look at. If you like it too, then I am happy.

People who like my blog will use words like creative, funny, different and new to describe it.

Those who dislike my blog may use words like amateur, dabbler or hobbyist. They may wish for the days when gatekeepers kept people like me from sharing their writing and art. They wish the Internet weren't so damned democratic.

No one has left a hateful comment on my blog. I do not have enough followers to have trolls. I believe that any Haters I have are of the Silent Hating variety. Even people with thousands of followers, and have many people who post absolutely mean comments on their blogs have Silent Haters.

It is hard to prove the phenomenon of Silent Haters, but to an intuitive like myself it feels like a barely perceptible sound or the softest breeze.

There is one quality though that fans and Haters can agree on about me. It is an asset that is both professional and beyond reproach. I am going to ask you, once again, to excuse my language.

I am fucking consistent.

I started my blog in February with a goal of posting content once a week. I posted content once a week then upped the ante to twice a week. The content has ranged from crappy to excellent. But my consistency is always great. I said I was going to post twice a week. I post twice a week.

When it comes to posting photography on Facebook, I have a very tight schedule. I have many series that I am sharing at this time. I am posting Beautiful Trash, Dumpsters, I Heart 168th street, Williamsburg, Hardscrabble Plants, Mid-Century Modern, Flyers on Lamp Posts and Other Surfaces, Spring, Meditate with Me, Swatch Book, Farmer's Market, Craft-Like, What I see when I go to the Country and This is Inwood on a weekly morning and afternoon schedule.

No one is better at being consistently consistent than me.

Whether you think my series of photographs that depict the glories of spring are that of an excellent craftsperson or a total dilettante, you will have to admit that they are there for the viewing each and every Thursday evening.

In terms of consistency, my blog and my Beautiful Trash Series have more in common with The Young and the Restless, the summer solstice, Church on Sundays and undying unconditional love than they do with Baseball Games, flashes of inspiration, Summer romance or sleeping late on weekends.

If you are already a professional, have an exquisite trained eye or creative voice, then take a page from my amateur book. A great idea unrealized and unpublished is only half an idea. Be humble enough to share what is not always transcendent, not always finished, not always commissioned. The best part of it may be that it is new. That is enough.

If you want to be a better photographer, then you should be shooting all of the time. Photography is now cheap. If you want to shoot photographs, then shoot photographs. There are no excuses. Same with writing. That was always something you could do for free.

If there is no garret, no studio, no workshop, that's okay. The waiting room, post office line and the kitchen table are beckoning.

If you are a beginner at something, crappy at something, have desire but no talent, take the professional part of what I do and steal it. Try a schedule for a while. Stick with it long enough and gradually things will look less crappy. You'll look like you've been at it for a while because by then you will have been at it for a while.

As for me, I'm going to keep on being consistent. Eventually, I'll get really good at all of this. People will want to move over and make space for me at the big table. And then I'll do the same for you. There's more than enough room for everyone.