This is a true story:

Boyfriend rolls through a stop sign. His girlfriend, in the passenger seat, says “Hey! you just ran that stop!” He tells her that, after 5pm, stop signs with white borders should be treated like “Yield” signs. She’d never heard that before. “Oh, yeah,” he tells her, “I learned it from a cop buddy of mine.”

A week later, she runs a stop and is ticketed accordingly. She promptly dumped her boyfriend.

Good art creates a connection between you and the folks who take in what you make. That connection builds trust which earns you the right to tell potentially life-altering stories and truths; stories and truths that can change the way folks see and think and live and act.

What stories and truths are you prepared to tell?
What are you an expert in?

It seems to me that too many artists believe having a platform makes them an expert and that success earns them the right to be heard.

Your platform doesn’t make you an expert; the real life you’ve lived (failures included) does that.
Your success or popularity doesn’t make you trustworthy; your love of others does that.


(This is a short thought from the book I’m currently writing. Yet untitled, it will be a followup to Title Pending. Add yourself to my email list to learn more)