My New Credo

Daniel thinks I should apply for that job on Craig's list in New York. He thinks I need to make a statement to the universe, and quit moping and pining and whining and complaining and actually DO something. And I started to do just that, even though I know full well that I haven't got a chance in hell of landing it. Then, I realized that I don't want THAT job. I want to BE the person who OFFERS that job. And in order to do that, I need to get over myself and start living my life the way I talk about living it, and just shut up about everything else.

So, I pulled his "credo" off of the job application, and I'm going to put it somewhere that I can see it, and I'm going to begin to actually live my life in that way (just as soon as I get over being scared of it).


The Credo:

One of the fundamental principles of the samurai code of Bushido is that in your own mind, you are already dead; there is nothing you have to fear. An artist should live and feel the same way. You are not attempting to exist in any state other than living and creating your art. You are not afraid to die unknown as far as recognition of you or your work by the popular world. What others think is of no concern. You create your art come what may.

The only thing that matters is the passionate and overwhelming inner aesthetic that drives you on, that makes you feel that this is what I want to do, this is what I believe, this is what I'm going to discover, this is what I'm going to explore; this is the blazing, future. I don't care how dangerous it is. I don't care how enigmatic it is. I've got to go beyond what I've ever done before. I may and will go beyond what most people see or understand at this time. That is the Zen warrior’s and the artist’s code, “the absolute will to die” as I have translated it in my own terms in my books THE SAMURAI WAY and FIRE IN MY HAIR.

—Harvey Lloyd