The Internet is a Boon To Creative People

Boy, how grateful I am that there is the Internet! When I was a kid, I really did not know what to be when I would grow up. I had too many interests, and was, basically, jack-of-all trades, but a master of none. That proved to be a very difficult character trait as far as succeeding in today’s society is concerned. I am a writer, but not a terribly good one. I also like to write about things that I think are important; not those that the market needs. Hence, my chances of being published and having a best-seller are not that great.I am also a poet, but not a very good one, either. Also, I enjoy writing poetry about deep things that most readers are too tired to understand or enjoy. They enjoy sexual poetry or something very radical. So, again, I was probably destined to be unpublished.I am also an artist, but not a terribly good one. I was never focused enough to get into a lucrative art field such as medical illustration or commercial art, and even to become a fine artist. I am just not that good. I do not know anatomy, and, basically, I create folkloric stuff that again, not many people are interested in.Anyway, I was probably fated to be a failure in all of those talents and skills. Unless of course, I would have chosen to prostitute myself and do what the lowest common denominator of the market wants me to produce. However, with the Internet, we are given the third choice of independent online publishing. We may not be on the New York Times’ list, but people are reading us. And that counts for a lot.Yes, it did truly change for me in the 1990ies with the advent of the Internet. I only seriously went online in the late 1990ies, but by doing so, I was able to redeem the creative oblivion and being unknown to anybody that plagued me for decades. I could publish my writings online, and tens of thousands of people have read them. This way, my ideas were able to help someone to deal with his/her problems the way I had dealt with mine.The mistakes which I have made in my life and my ways of dealing with those are not wasted happenings anymore. They now serve as warnings and advice to people who might make similar mistakes. Because of my writings, I feel that I am contributing to mankind by helping people to live better lives and not screw them up the way I had screwed up mine so many times. In a way, I now feel that my mistakes and the unfortunate events that happened to me had not been in vain. They are helping not only my progress, but other people’s progress, as well. If I suffered did not suffer for nothing. I suffered so that others would take heed and not go down the same paths. If I enjoyed and seen and experienced great things, I can now help other people find those and enjoy them as well.How very fulfilling it is to know that your sacrifices and hard lessons, as well as your adventures and enjoyments have not been in vain!My poems are now being read and commented upon. People are being inspired by them. The ideas that I have are being communicated poetically to other people. This makes me happy and proud of what I have been experiencing and observing for it has not been all for my sake alone.My father used to write poems on scraps of paper and then, one day he passed away. Both my mom and I collected them, had them typed and put on a CD, and then, published on the Internet. Now, over a hundred people have read them. It may not be a lot, but the poems are out there and the beautiful way in which my father had seen the world is now being shown to other human beings. So what if it is not many? It still counts.My art has also been seen and commented upon by thousands of people. At one online gallery that I placed my paintings with, they had several million visitors a month. Many of those have seen my artworks and my name in the gallery. If before I had no chance of ever getting my art into the public eye, now I do. I have even been able to sell my artwork on E-bay. So what if it is only one? While I do not have worldwide fame yet, I know that this artwork now decorates someone’s home. And if many people around the world have seen my paintings, it is, in a way a small "worldwide" fame.I am still not a smashing success, and, maybe, I am not even aspiring to be the next Hemingway or Picasso or Robert Burns. But I am not a failure anymore; I am no longer a wasted talent destined to never be seen or heard. I am being read, people see my art and people even send my poetry to other people to read. Thanks to the Internet, I am no longer a failure.