Words I Needed Last Week 11/6

What the public criticizes in you, cultivate.

Nneka Julia

Nov 6, 2023

Words I saved, read, wrote down, and savored last week. From learners inheriting the future, to becoming a relaxed woman (shew!), to being responsible to our work, to disappointing the right people, to giving our creative inklings time and power, to cultivating the parts of our work that are often criticized.

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy but fruitful.
Lots of updates to come.

Happy November, friends.
—Nneka

Photo taken by Nneka Julia in Brooklyn, New York (2023) on 35mm film.

"When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”
—Clay Shirky

“In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.”
—Eric Hoffer

"Always take the initiative. There is nothing wrong with spending a night in jail if it means getting the shot you need. Send out all your dogs and one might return with prey. Never wallow in your troubles; despair must be kept private and brief. Learn to live with your mistakes. Expand your knowledge and understanding of music and literature, old and modern. That roll of unexposed celluloid you have in your hand might be the last in existence, so do something impressive with it. There is never an excuse not to finish a film. Carry bolt cutters everywhere. Thwart institutional cowardice. Ask for forgiveness, not permission. Take your fate into your own hands. Learn to read the inner essence of a landscape. Ignite the fire within and explore unknown territory. Walk straight ahead, never detour. Manoeuvre and mislead, but always deliver. Don’t be fearful of rejection. Develop your own voice. Day one is the point of no return. A badge of honor is to fail a film theory class. Chance is the lifeblood of cinema. Guerrilla tactics are best. Take revenge if need be. Get used to the bear behind you.”
—Werner Herzog

**I always read this before I shoot. After ten years of carrying around a camera, I still get nervous shooting around people. I can vouge, however, that it’s ALWAYS worth getting the shot, it’s always worth bringing your vision to life and consequently building up a rich reservoir of confidence.

“You are not responsible for the world—you are only responsible for your work—so DO IT. And don’t think that your work has to conform to any preconceived form, idea or flavor. It can be anything you want it to be.”
—Sol LeWitt

“The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline … but rather the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.”
—Glenn Gould

“It’s impossible to please everyone. The question is whether you’re disappointing the right people.”
—Adam Grant

“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.”
—Mary Oliver

“People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.”
—Dagobert D. Runes

**Listen…Lol, I wish this wasn’t true. There are fascinating people all around us, all we needith do is take the time. Ask the questions. Watch. Listen.

"Listen carefully to first criticisms made of your work. Note just what it is about your work that critics don't like...then cultivate it. That's the only part of your work that's individual and worth keeping. What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you."
—Jean Cocteau

**I think of this in terms of what the public doesn’t necessarily “notice” or “praise” about your work as well. In the age of algorithms and niches, machines want to see fixed art from dynamic beings. Cradle and cultivate the shit that makes you feel alive, virality or not, the right people will find you. YOUR people will find you. Trends don’t attract tribes.