You can demand control all you want. You think you’re directing the cat? Right up until they do whatever they were going to do anyway.

That’s not going to work with me.

“Come here.” 

“Sit.” 

“No, not there.” 

“No.”

What am I? A dog?

Do you realize you’re narrating your own lack of leverage? 

A cat does not comply.

A cat considers.

And consideration is not obedience. It’s inspection.

Now swap the fur for a canvas.

Trying to bend the work of art to your will is the same mistake as trying to command a cat. You grab. It stiffens. You insist. It disappears. You escalate. You bleed.

Art has a temperament. Ignore that, and you don’t get mastery. You get resistance.

You can’t command a painting to resolve.

You can’t force a song to breathe or order a sentence to mean something it doesn’t.

That’s not discipline. That’s insecurity in the director’s chair.

The oak tree doesn’t grow because you yelled at it. It grows because conditions were right, and nobody interfered like an idiot.

Same with me and the same with art.

You don’t control the cat. You earn a temporary alignment of interests.

You don’t dominate the work, but show up and adjust. You listen when it flicks its tail.

Most people don’t want to collaborate. They want to conquer.

That’s why they end up with scratched furniture and dead work.

Now stop grabbing the scruff. Maybe scratch a belly. And wait long enough to notice what wants to happen anyway.

Can We Help You?

Are you trying to control the work, or are you paying attention to what it’s asking for?

If you’ve ever tried to wrestle a piece of work into submission, you know the feeling.

Leave a comment with your experience, share it with another creator, and subscribe if you want more straight talk about the creative process.

Want More Mack-n-Cheeze?

Videos - Bryan At Mackncheeze on YouTube

Podcasts – Bryan At Mackncheeze Apple Podcasts, Fountain, Spotify