I'm Sick Of Me
As artistic creators we have to promote our projects constantly. It’s a necessary evil. Our friends, fans, and followers love to listen to us and help support our art, but wouldn’t we be more evolved if we set aside time to promote them and others too? I’m sick of me. Aren’t you a little sick of you too?
All of us are immersed in a culture of “me.” We shameless self-promoters aren’t the only guilty ones. Even people who don’t make art post pictures of themselves, their pets, or the food they eat. Through social media sites, everyone tells everyone else the intimate and mundane details of their lives-- constantly.
Bertrand Russell (British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic) explains how self-obsession leads to unhappiness in his book from 1930, The Conquest of Happiness:
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to happiness is “the disease of self-absorption.” (page 173)
Russell offers that his own conquest of happiness was due “very largely [. . . ] to a diminishing preoccupation with myself.” (page 6)
A happy person knows that “one’s ego is no very large part of the world.” (page 48)
“One of the great drawbacks to self-centered passions is that they afford so little variety in life. The man who loves only himself cannot, it is true, be accused of promiscuity in his affections, but he is bound in the end to suffer intolerable boredom from the invariable sameness of the object of his devotion.”
- These quotes from Bertrand Russell were pulled from THIS wonderful article in Psychology Today.
We all need a break from ourselves.
I have decided that from now on I will take this break on Mondays. I will no longer talk about myself in any way, shape, or form on this day. I call it “Enough About Me Mondays.” I will either talk about YOU or I will keep my mouth shut and LISTEN to you. I will attempt to do this through both social networking sites and in my own life.
In conjunction with this I am starting an ongoing salon event called “Let’s Talk About You.” Once a month I will hold an intimate gathering at Archipelago in Manhattan. One person will be chosen as the guest of honor and the rest of us will have the chance to learn more about their work. Those in attendance are encouraged to tweet and post photos, ideas, poems and thoughts throughout the salon.
Sure, Twitter has “Follow Friday,” but that has gone from a networking tool to a meaningless list. Instead, I propose that we choose people who are doing things that we love and give a little information about them: post a picture, music sample, or link. Let’s try to find people who aren’t normally promoted to talk about.
I’m going to focus on Mondays for now, but “Enough About Me” can occur anytime.
Will you join me?
If you say yes I will list you in my “Enough About Me, Let’s Talk About You” blog post with your URL and one line of text about you. Please send your URL and sentence to my assistant hannah@cynthiavonbuhler.com. Please feel free to send Hannah URLs and one liners about other projects you like, too. She will update them on the blog. Eventually, I will make a website for “Enough About Me, Let’s Talk About You.”
To begin, please post the message below and ask your friends to share and re-tweet it:
Enough About Me! I only talk about OTHERS on Mondays. Join us & be listed here: http://bit.ly/GCg3KR #EnoughAboutMeMonday or #EAMM
Cynthia von Buhler: A trip down an ornate rabbit hole filled with art, books, animals, and curiosities. @CynthVonBuhler Today we visit my Speakeasy Dollhouse. www.speakeasydollhouse.com
Jeffrey Wengrofsky: I am the Director and Producer of the Syndicate of Human Image Traffickers, where I make strange documentary films about the creative life. www.humansyndicate.com
Travis Louie: My work is about imaginary ancestry and an otherworldly immigrant experience through a backdrop set in Victorian and Edwardian eras. www.travislouieartworks.com or www.travislouie.com
Amanda White: "Rock star opera singer" Amanda White leads a double life as a classical/opera singer and frontwoman of an original rock band. www.notjustanotherprettyvoice.com
Cat Mallard: artist, curious girl. Inspired by tales and a pervasive sense of longing. @darklingwoods & www.darklingwoods.blogspot.com
Mary Layton: Artist of mythic, fantasy, faerie, and steampunky things. www.marylayton.net
Faulke Yue: Lil acoustic singer/songwriter with a deep deep voice....www.kevinjoneilmusic.com and www.reverbnation.com/kevinjoneil
Ali Luminescent: Faerie Mermaid Unicorn www.aliluminescent.com
Laurel Snyder has been talking about herself far too much for far too long. She writes books. laurelsnyder.com
Silent James: I am an illustrator of my own innocence, happily stuck in the 1920's. @SilentJamesL & www.silentjames.com
Scott Southard AKA Lord Kat: I wish everyone could have the freedom as I do to explore the world and witness the harmony of nature, science and metaphysics. twitter.com/Lord_Kat
Rita J. King: Artist, entrepreneur, adventurer, writer. www.sciencehouse.com
Stav Meishar: A performer artist who bends and blends the limits of theater, music and circus. www.stavmeishar.com
Justin Moore: A photographer without his own web site (yet). Also acting in CVB’s Speakeasy Dollhouse. flickr.com/photos/bdjsb7/collections/
Dennis Preski: A retail slave, beginner tattoo artist, and assistant the the great Cynthia von Buhler. You can find him performing at Speakeasy Dollhouse the first Saturday and Monday of every month.
Kambriel: Designer of Fantastical Clothing & Accessories for Femme Fatales & Decadent Gentlemen. www.etsy.com/shop/kambriel and www.Kambriel.com
Heather Rose: Conceptual portrait illustrator and rabbit enthusiast. heatherrosestudios.com
Edrie was raised on a farm and now plays the accordion & BRoken TOys for Walter Sickert & the ARmy of BRoken TOys @armyoftoys & armyoftoys.com
Marcy A. Currier: Artist, Intuitive, Healer, Teacher. Dedicated to transformation and awakening through Tarot, art, and engaging events. @metaMarcy21 & www.metamarcy.tumblr.com
Terese Lavallee: I'm a stay at home mom and I'm not afraid to laugh about it. tml-youllbefine.blogspot.com/
The Bewitched: Life's dark and delicious drama, the longing and the transformation, the subversive and the sublime. @thebewitched & thebewitched.bandcamp.com
Juliet Schneider: I work in various media, currently focused on animation and production design. iridiumproductions.com
Louisa Bertman: An illustrator basking naked in the world of digital storytelling, moving pictures and generated experiences. www.louisabertman.com
Heathyre Perara: I am rather Snarky and I play the Ukulele. I host the Dr Sketchy SWFL Branch, attend Tweetups across the state and have been known to sell sell Real Estate in SWFL. twitter.com/heathyre & drsketchyswfl.com
Katrina Galore AKA Katherine Bergeron: Performer/producer/dreamer/schemer of the Boston/NYC dirty-cabaret/retro-fetish/punk-burlesque/art-tart scene. @katrinagalore
Rachel Rossman: Portraits of man and beast. @rachaelrossman & www.rachaelrossman.com
Noctilucent Studios: I am an artist returning from the Realms of the Unreal. I want to show you something. noctilucentstudios.net
Black Fortress of Opium: Gothicana. @blackfortressoo & blackfortressofopium.com
Ajda: Singer of Black Fortress of Opium. @ajdatq & blackfortressofopium.com
André Blas: A non-linear nowmadic aesthete and communicator of multi-dimensional information, a content fabricator and an ambassador of ideas. My mission is to imagine, to inspire, and to bring a greater sense of cosmic harmony. @leonarduchamp & www.nablaste.tumblr.com
Aaron Lazar: [creative] @tzgani & aaronclazar.com
Donna Letterese: Illustrator, writer, and teacher who loves creating pictures that are narrative in nature. I do love to throw puns into the mix whenever possible. @drawdvl & www.drawdvl.com
Terra Friedrichs: A nerdish punksterish stagecrafted soulful anarchist artisty type. www.terrafriedrichs.com
Sarah Small: The Delirium Constructions is an ongoing body of work exploring disassociated themes and characters brought together into the same space to examine social and graphic contrasts; Small brings these ideas to life working in the mediums of photography, film, a Cappella singing, and live tableau vivant performance art. @SarahSmallTweet, Facebook & www.sarahsmall.com
