One of my favourite quotes is by James Clear and it sums up life goals perfectly in just 6 powerful words:
Entrepreneur’s mind.
Athlete’s body.
Artist’s soul.— James Clear (@JamesClear) August 22, 2020
While the first two are relatively easier to understand, how does one decipher an artist’s soul?
In my humble observation, there’s one clear difference between an artist and (say) a business person/logical thinker/normal practical everyday person- the soul of a great artist will often defy logic.
Let me explain.
Four years ago, a photographer took this amazing flawlessly straight, no splash picture of a kingfisher diving.
https://t.co/82h11xb5fo the best and most affordable hides for rent available in the UK pic.twitter.com/O0lv9wUZkE
— Photography Hides (@AlanMcFadyen) December 10, 2015
It took the photographer 6 years with over 7,20,000 photos to get this perfect shot!
Alan McFadyen, who captured this photo said, “There are not many people in the world who have got this shot. Kingfishers dive so fast they are like bullets so taking a good photo requires a lot of luck – and a lot of patience.”
A lot of people have a lot of patience.
But 6 years!
That’s a lot of logic defying patience.
Few people even left snide remarks on Twitter belittling the achievement, questioning what the photographer got in return? It’s not like he was awarded the Nobel prize, got world recognition, or became a millionaire.
Only an artist can appreciate what Alan achieved. He wasn’t after fame, money, business anyway.
It satiated his soul.
The soul of an artist.
Photo by Ilya Shishikhin