Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it’s my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.
The world in which we live has become one where dreams very rarely are fostered by others to become reality. Corporations have become the engines of progress, and visionaries need to find themselves employment under insufferable douchebags driving expensive cars rather than striking out on their own to carve out their own niche in the ever-growing tree of life. Those in power, the ones holding the strings of purses, will tell you that this is how the world is. That there is nothing more than this. And that the only way to make something of yourself in this world is to conform your dreams to someone else’s vision, stay within a designated paradigm and above all else, behave yourself.
Those people are liars.
With the advent of social networking and the proliferation of software that allows for self-publication, making a niche for yourself in the written or spoken word has become easier than you might believe. Go to Lulu and poke around a bit. There are a few tutorials out there on how to start up your own podcast. Twitter makes promotion and advertising simple & straight-forward. And so far I haven’t mentioned anything that costs you money. Vanity presses require you to pay in advance, producers at studios can be difficult to get a hold of and unwilling to take risks, and ad agencies or web development firms tend to be expensive.
This very blog is an example. While I’m familiar with the ins and outs of web design & development, WordPress made setting up this site pretty darn easy. I probably could talk my mother through it. (No offense, Mom) Even more simple ways of establishing a foothold in the Internet exist – Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, the list goes on. The platforms are easy to set up, maintain and customize. They’re flexible enough that you can feature just about anything you want there: art, recipes, political rants, photos of travels, etc.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that you don’t need a corporate overlord or the financial sponsorship of someone who wants to turn your dreams into an asset they can leverage for a larger timeshare in the Hamptons. You also don’t need to break your own bank or back to get your name out and even some cash flow going. It’s not a fast process, and as Filamena says, you have to chase your dragon. Keep producing new work, promote it when you can and don’t be afraid to take a little criticism. But in this environment, if you play your cards right, you’ll be fielding comments and critiques from people interested in your success not because they can profit from it, but because they’re in the same trenches you are and success for one of you gives hope for the group as a whole. It’s a thriving, supportive and creative community.
The day may be approaching when big production houses are unable to keep up with the new ideas and fresh innovations that come from little independent creative folk that put out work which catches on and promotes imagination and independence rather than churning out an endless stream of interchangeable sequels. If you’re interested in something, take a look around for something free of corporate oversight & sponsorship and if it appeals to you, support it. Comment on it. And don’t be afraid to start up your own forum for what catches your interest. You never know how much merit or interest your ideas will generate until you get out there and try it. You may be surprised.
Let the Botox stars, corporate mouthpieces and bankrolled pundits have the television. We’re a different kind of force. We’re intelligent, creative and vocal. We’re pioneers pushing forward with humor, thought and passion in a cloying miasma of cookie-cutter responses and anonymous dickwads. We are, when you think about it, revolutionaries. And we will not be silent.
Today’s a new day. Have a bite to eat, pour your favorite fresh beverage to get your juices flowing and make your mark. You’re the only one who can. Someone out there is waiting for you to do it and they might not even know it until you do. So get off your ass and do it.
Evey: “Are you some kind of crazy person?”
V: “I am quite certain they will say so.”
