Thread by @roxinekee_

Just finished reading @amandapalmer 's The Art of Asking. Some quotes and thoughts:

"All of us come from some place of wanting to be seen, understood, accepted, connected."

"There is a certain sense of indiscriminate gratitude that is essential to hone if you're going to survive in the arts. You can't really afford to be choosy about your audience, not about how they wish to repay you for your art. In cash? In help? In kindness?"

"It was essential to to feel thankful for the few who stopped to watch or listen instead of wasting energy on resenting the majority who passed me by."

"There's a difference between wanting to be looked at and wanting to be seen. When you are looked at, your eyes can stay blissfully closed... When you are seen your eyes must be open... One is exhibitionism, the other is connection."

"Not everybody wants to be looked at. Everybody wants to be seen."

"A balanced artist knows when to hide in The Garret, when to throw the windows open, and when to venture into... where society exists. Most important is the understanding that there are no rules--what works on one day, for one song, won't work the next."

"Some artists need to create in complete peace, but all artists are now empowered by technology to open the front door and chronicle their backstage and BTS working processes. More importantly, they're equipped to distribute their own work themselves..."

"Conditional love is:
I will only love you if you love me.
Unconditional love is:
I will love you even if you do not love me."

"It's really easy to love passing strangers unconditionally. They demand nothing of you.
It is really hard to love people unconditionally when they can hurt you."

"There's a difference between asking...

1. a stranger for a handout
2. a friend for a favour
3. a customer for a down payment on a piece of merchandise

Crowdfunding artists are generally working the 3rd category, in the spirit of the 2nd."

"People are comfortable as long as there is money flowing in ANY direction, whether from the artist to the volunteer, or from the volunteer to the artist."

"People can understand a price tag, no matter what it's stuck on. But some can't understand a messier exchange of asking and giving."

"To erase the possibility of empathy is to also erase the possibility of understanding. To erase the possibility of empathy is also to erase the possibility of art."

"Giving away free content... was about the value of the music becoming the connection itself... How do we create a world in which people don't think of arts just as a product, but as a relationship?"

"Those who ask without fear learn to say two things...
- 'I deserve to ask'
- 'You are welcome to say no'

Because the ask that is conditional cannot be a gift."

"How do we MAKE people pay for content?" vs "How do we LET people pay for content?"

"The 1st question is about FORCE. The 2nd is about TRUST."

"Your acceptance of the gift IS the gift."

"Our first job in life is to recognize the gifts we've already got, take the donuts that show up while we cultivate and use those gifts, and then turn around and share those gifts--sometimes in the form of money...time...love--back into the puzzle of the world."

"...Accept the help offered to them with grace and humility, and announce with a smile that they're living at home while they figure shit out. Humor is key.

Some days it's your turn to ask.
Some days it's your turn to be asked."