I've always taken pride in integrity, hard work, and earning what I have. That goes from material items to skills. Often, during periods of struggle and hardship, when we work toward something better, our growth as a person truly deepens. Staying humble, willing to get a little dirt under your nails and sweat upon your brow. Principles of the days when ol’ westerns spanned the big screen, and people still helped their neighbors out. These are what I still live by today. When life felt stagnant, like I lacked purpose, I stood up, dusted myself off, and worked my ass off to do better. It hasn’t been easy or without struggle. That’s when you raise your upper lip, snarl your teeth at the world trying to take you down, and work your way up.
There is a feeling that fills your soul when you know you can back what you have with your skill and hard work. I’m generally a person who feels deeply about things being justified with reason. Which brings me to the foundation of this new piece…
I’ve been thinking a lot about a topic that circles back on itself. That is the lie that is knowledge nowadays. It seems that so many are fooled by a TikTok’er or podcaster that is lacking any actual credentials in a subject. Now we are met with the ultimate false identity of intelligence - AI. It’s a great tool, but only if you use it as a tool. Now we find people who do a quick prompt and call themselves designers, authors, etc. Which is about as credible as claiming you're a dog groomer because you brush your pet every week. It’s taking a tool and pretending it's you and your skill base. In reality, many haven't earned the titles they claim, and they are falsely advertising their credentials to the public. This is wildly aggravating, because some people have put in the blood, sweat, tears, hard work, and sacrifice to earn that title as their profession and/or career. Their knowledge and skill back it. This isn’t just about designers… it is about a wide range of skills suddenly being viewed as if a quick prompt can solve all the problems. While also those accepting credit for something that wasn’t even their work to begin with - it took a bot to do it for you! (It’s almost as bad as handing your paper to your classmate to fill in the answers to your test for you. It’s cheating. You don’t actually know the material, didn’t do the work, and are cheating your way through the process. OR those individuals who take highly filtered photos of themselves, then you see them in the grocery store, and they look nothing like that in real life.)
Standing on my own two feet, and knowing that it took no luck and all grit to be where I am today, means more than relying on any bot. Maybe that’s just me and my morale. But I know I can back my own knowledge and skill, and I'm also the first to admit when a subject is beyond my brain capacity. I’m an idiot in many realms, but I'm confident in what I do know, and I stand by it.
In art, design, and writing, I pride myself on doing it all with my two hands, straight from my own dysfunctional brain. What you see is what you get. Meaning my skills will never be overcompensated for or falsely enhanced by a bot. Straight from the heart, including mistakes and all. I won't try to fool you with rose-colored glasses or false pretenses about what I can do, how I speak, or what I've accomplished. I worked for them: every art show, publication, certification, and degree with honors. I worked for them, digging myself out of dark places I wish on no one, wiping away the tears, and moving on to the next day, pushing my sleeves up and getting dirty.
So, yes… I stand by the claim… No Luck, All Grit. Grateful for it all, and I wouldn’t change a damn thing. Could you stand alone and still do your job, and keep your skills if we were unplugged tomorrow?
