This is what happens when we practice in public: we not only hone our abilities but attract an audience interested in what we’re sharing.

“All my great opportunities have come from friends,” he said. “You really only need one or two good friends, because it’s really about having someone who’s going to advocate for you. That’s the formula for success.”

that he was constantly cultivating patrons. What do you do when you find yourself in a position that is less than ideal? Do you quit your job and try to strike out on your own? Not at all. You look around for the closest patron, even if that means your day job. “Follow your curiosities and get a paycheck,” Kabir told me. “Don’t focus so much on the

The New Renaissance is not about working in isolation; it’s about finding more

Under the right circumstances, being distractible can be a strength. “If you think about the most creative people,” therapist Chuck Chapman told me, “they’re the ones who innovate. They come up with the ideas, and I think the fact that your brain is going so fast all the time and seeing so many possibilities—that’s what creates innovation.”

having to market themselves. They are, it seems, afraid of appearing sleazy or “self-promotional,”

What got her there was not some lofty dream. It was gradual and persistent action in the right direction. She learned how to be an apprentice.

One of her cartoons features a white ghost with the caption: “Let yourself be seen.” Below it, Stephanie wrote, “I was nervous about putting my work out in the open. Because as much as I wanted people to know what I was doing, I was worried about being exposed. There was a risk of letting myself be seen. Like if they looked too closely, they’d disc

Thriving Artists go where the magic is. But this takes more than moving to a new city. You have to join a scene, wherever you find one, and that means making connections with the people who will help your work succeed. In other words, you have to build a network.