When I was a kid in high school and college, (60' and 70's) the world flipped on its head. No longer was success to be gained by showing up in the long term and through the long range cultivation of skill and technique. Fame and success came quickly to a few launched by the music industry into stardom and huge financial success on a worldwide stage. Measurement of success became based on things that apparently took place in an instant, decisions made in boardrooms. "Being discovered," was the term used by for those longing for the lights of Hollywood, or the Hollywood Bowl.

Conflicting inclinations... Today I have a bus load of arts patrons visiting from Little Rock, so I am involved in a cleaning and arranging of my studio (work shop), office, and the usual weekly cleaning of the house. Having guests is always a confusing thing for me. Do I show them the usual real-life chaos within which an artist most often works, or put on the front of order and perfection. This time since my wife is involved as co-host, we are leaning toward the latter. Now if I can keep things in order until Tuesday, my home and studio will still be in order for a visit and interview with the Arkansas Democrat Gazette Features editor.

It seems my work and my program are attracting some attention. Some of it is luck. some of it is timing, but I remember thinking years ago as I watched young men and women launched to instantaneous recognition, how much more meaningful success would be if it were earned a day at a time over a lifetime of work. It requires showing up each day and having goals, set, reached and renewed. Working with ones hands through involvement in relationships and community provides a deeper, richer life than that suffered by stars or endured though empty longing for celebrity.