Sunday, May 6, 2012

What is Potential?

Sunday musings...

The word "potential" has come up numerous times this week.  What does it mean for a developing artist? Is it a positive word?  Is it a bad word?

The definition of potential is to have or show the capacity to develop something in the future.

So, what are you doing about it?

Often,  singers create goals that are not immediate.  While a dream is great, it can create murky waters, frustration, disillusion and sometimes delusion in the now.

I believe we all have potential.  However, potential means nothing if you do not develop it.  What that potential can lead to, if developed, is the mystery.  It is also the possibility. 

If you believe you have potential,  if someone has told you that you have potential,  it can be wasted if not developed as thoroughly as it appears.  Potential is latent.  The power of it only exists if you choose to develop it.

Potential can be a dirty word if it doesn't realize itself.  It can only realize itself as craft, as realized artistry if YOU decide to develop it. 

Potential is one of the only things we have potentially that we can control.  You can decide to sit on it and never see where it goes - and that is no one's fault but yours; or you can decide to grab that potential and work to develop it and see what emerges.  Ultimately, it is your choice.

Developing your potential is not limited to your resources but it is DECIDED by your imagination and your ability to follow through.

It is YOUR decision to decide and follow through with study, development, a determination to realize and see yourself honestly,  to surround yourself with professionals who will guide you, and give you sound and honest advice and direction,  to see yourself in development and compare yourself only to your previous self,  to stay focused,  to not be blinded by quick fixes, tricks or other mind games,  and any other blind-siding issues.

Potential simply gives you the starting point.  Potential is not something to achieve, but rather a simple place of departure.  Whatever the potential we have been given, it is up to us to then develop it to whatever level it allows.  A potential artist can only become a realized artist with a clarity of purpose and development of skill and craft. 

Potential in motion allows for possibility.  Potential is stagnant and will wither and disappear if it is never allowed to breathe and grow.

So,  instead of saying "I have potential",  perhaps you begin with "How do I develop this potential TODAY?"  One step at a time, one breath at a time, and each step and each breath will develop the momentum to realization.

That choice is yours.  You claim it, or you lose it.  You are responsible - you and only you.

Wouldn't it be more rewarding to be told you are REALIZING your potential than simply having some? 

1 comment:

  1. I once heard a great quote by Dick Button, the great figure skater and commentator who said, "there's no greater burden than having potential." He was talking about Sasha Cohen, the great American figure skater, who often caved under pressure because she was riddled with self doubt but I feel like his statement has so much truth in it.

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