Member-only story
POETRY
Resonance
I make a distinction between Artists and Content Creators. Content Creators are trying to reach the widest audience possible. They are constantly refining their work to get the most clicks, likes and views. They’re cultivating attention. This is a skill that takes a lot of practice.
It takes awareness of the zeitgeist , dedication to psychology and a willingness to shift as trends shift. Think Mr. Beast.
Artists though are trying to do something different. Artists are trying to create work that burns a hole in your chest. That makes your bones hum and your skin sing. Artists are trying to scratch a very particular itch in the contours of your brain.
Artists want to resonate.
Artists are not making work for everyone. Their target audience is whoever feels it. The audience makes itself. It is cultivated by their shared response.
They are working to create pieces that are true to them in extremely fundamental ways. Ways that are true before language.
This distinction I make is arbitrary of course. Content Creators are Artists and vice versa. But there are absolutely people who are not interested in resonance and there are people who aren’t interested in numbers.
It ,like so many things, is a spectrum. For transparency sake I consider myself then, an artist. I want what I do to make you feel. I want everything I put out to Resonate with one person before I can consider it good. The deeper the Resonance, the louder it rings, the happier I am.
Ask yourself, are you more Artist or Content Creator?
