After a long absence, I am starting to return to this community. As some may know, I was disappointed with deviantArt as a company and community. I still feel that both do not live up to their potential, of which I have already said a lot in all sorts of posts. What I did not realise, was that I wasn't doing very much to achieve that potential either. I feel the need to be taken seriously in my artistic expression perhaps a bit more so then the majority of voices on dA, but it never really went anywhere. It never really went further then anything that would have required serious effort and conviction on my part.

I have learned that if you really want to be a player in any creative industry (be it art or publishing or journalism), you need to be a tiger. You need to find the right people and convince them that your idea is the best they will ever find and that you are worthy of their attention. It means stalking your prey and sinking your teeth in their necks. While remaining their friend. This can be learned, of course. But it also requires a certain mindset of which I think conviction is the most important keyword. I have held a high level of conviction for a long time; to the point of being arrogant and unable to incorporate criticism. That's when I began to realise that me and conviction are not friends.

So while I was being annoyed at the lack of maturity in this community, I also lacked the proper tools to mature into a real creative professional myself. Such a dilemma can only result in conflict and so it did. Words were said and feelings expressed in harsher terms then they should have. If they offended any one of my readers, I apologise. However, I still feel that this community and most of its users squander their potential.

The funny thing is that in my time away, when I only did some photography when it suited me and when I had the time, I realised that I enjoyed the creating more when there wasn't some need to. To my surprise, creating can be interesting when there is no need to make the one thing that will convince the audience of my genius. That was not going to happen anyway, lacking genius.

The point is that while I think squandered artistic and communal potential is a sad thing, there is also value in not having to live up to your potential, but enjoying it in your own pace and quantity. We are not slaves to our talents or potentials and we choose our own paths. Mostly, these paths will coincide with the things you do best because we all enjoy doing what we do best. But the best thing of all is to explore new and strange paths, to see where they lead. Only then will you discover your true destiny, which may be very different from the talent or potential you thought you were born for.