Please yourself.

Dear Friends:

Please yourself. Get out there and do what you want, how your spirit moves you, how you see it. Paint it, dance it, play it, direct it, sew it, sculpt it, act it, write it in a way that makes sense to you. Seems obvious, no? But so many artists worry and self-censor. They want to please everyone.

But you can't worry.  Or, maybe I should say, I wouldn't if I were you. Why? Because you can't please everyone. There are always critics. Everybody's got an opinion and, sure as snow flies in February in this great town, someone is going to absolutely hate what you're doing. It's a certainty. Always. Every time you get out there. Doesn't matter how much you want to please, how you adjust or self-censor....

So, why not please yourself? Way better to be genuine and piss people off than to have to stand up for something that you don't really believe in or aren't really proud of, no?

And don't forget about the people who love your work. Your vision, your input, your turn on whatever it is that you do. Because, just as sure as there are folks who don't appreciate your work, there are those who are going to love it; no, even need it.

So, please yourself.


Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently prepping and leading her Shakespeare is Boffo! theatre arts camps for active kids, directing Love Letters for Encore Entertainment, and preparing to direct Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild.  She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.  


Jacqui Burke
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