Support your friend artist or leave them struggle alone?

I notice some interesting phenomena in area of supporting emerging artists. Something that I’ve been thinking and personally experiencing for a while now. Something that really bothers and makes me wonder why.

I’ve been actively pursuing my artistic side for the past 16 years. Left my homeland 13 years ago, changed 3 countries, learned 2 additional languages to my mother tongue, lived with 21 nationalities in 16 houses, but I never have yet forgotten where I came from. In fact, I still keep in touch with some of my oldest friends. Moreover, I still care what they say and think, even though my life journey changed me so much.

What amazes me most is how people that know you from the start, at some point, for their own reasons, stop supporting your work, stop caring about your struggles, stop showing you that they see your effort. People say successful journey is a lonely journey, that there will be people who will fall back, who will develop jealousy not so much of you and what you do, but from the fact that they don’t have the guts to pursue their own big dreams.

It still strange me how they can call themselves your friends, but not give a single, most basic like on your social media for example, when you’re pushing so hard to build your future. It strikes me how they can watch regularly, but so irregularly be there for you. how they can support already established artists, well-known people far away from them in any meaning, but can’t support their long term friend. And it does hurts. If you’ve been in a situation like hits you have seen it, you know what I’m talking about.

Why do things change like that? Why can we be more open and loving? Why don’t we learn to see the bigger picture and sympathise more with those we know from kids, but who are trying to make a difference in their life? Because the difference they make will make a difference to all of us, to our kids that are growing together, to our community, to ourselves.

We all have egos, we’re all here to learn to be more humble, more honest, more sincere. And it all starts from us, from the inside and from the environment clossest to us. It all starts with our community, so it can grown and speed wider.

Maybe next time you feel jealous of your friend who is pushing hard to build their future surrounded by of insecurity and uncertainty, instead of passing by maybe give them a little tab on the shoulder, a hug, an acknowledgement that for you could look like nothing, but for them might mean the world.