Don’t deny creatives the chance to be great
IT’S not at all news that those who go the road less travelled often feel underrated and underappreciated, but that doesn’t make it at all fair.
All due respect to our thinkers, brainiacs and the more academically inclined, but not everyone chooses to walk that path in life.
Art -whatever the form- is important. It is to be valued and its artist respected, and we must understand that diversity of thought and talent is what makes our communities, our island and this world great.
And how can we reasonably enjoy a Louise Bennett poem, a Patrick Brown play, a Christopher Martin song, but still turn around and refuse the ones on the come-up a seat at the table or a pat on the back?
It is not for us to minimise or make light of anyone’s chosen career path or to decide what kind of value to place on persons’ talents and gifts. A society is made all the more interesting by all the people in it and by their contributions. We can’t all be doctors and lawyers, now can we?
What would we watch in the theatre or on television? What would we read in our down time? What would we listen to?
In this the technology age, with so many resources available to us all we should encourage everyone, particularly our youth, to make full use of the opportunities granted to them and follow their passions. Every skill or talent can be made into more than just a hobby if you so
desire, it is simply a matter of hard work, dedication and investing
in oneself.
Give our artists, singers, dancers, photographers and writers the green light to see their potential through, and creatives, if you aren’t given the green light, remember you don’t need anyone’s permission to be great. You can do it anyway.
It is hypocritical to believe for yourself cliches like ‘Live your dreams’ but laugh at, ridicule or nitpick at others the minute they try to do the same.
If we are all to move into the future and step into the now, we must do away with our ancestors’ older-than-dirt belief that some careers are somehow less than others and instead encourage our youth to find what moves them and make it work for them.