Fame has its own power.
But I don’t mean the power of your fame. I mean the power of your work’s fame.
Great creativity has a life beyond the confines of the audience it was originally conceived for. It becomes iconic. Instantly recognizable and powerfully influential. In reaching this status it becomes the benchmark for everything else that follows, rewriting the way the world looks at things.
Think of Apple’s iPhone, Frank Lloyd-Wright’s Fallingwater or Le Corbusier’s LC2 armchair. These creations changed industries and inspired lifestyles. They achieved fame and recognition and came to be revered throughout the world.
How did they do that?
By challenging the conventional, daring to be different, and anticipating future changes in behavior. Their creators didn’t compromise on their ideas or in the execution of those ideas. They believed in their vision and pursued it relentlessly.
Everything I’ve written so far in this book is an attempt to show how your creativity can achieve this status. But do be careful – as valuable as fame is, it can also be a trap.
You see, once fame is achieved, your audience will begin to expect you to do more of the same, making it more difficult for you to step out of the shadows of your own creation and produce something different. This is a particular problem for actors. Being typecast in one role might be good for a time but it soon becomes a burden. Actors have to have the courage to break free.
Have you that courage?
Will your audience accept your new vision?
If you don’t try, you’ll never know.