Becoming not Being #3

Trying to 'maintain a position', looking back to more favourable days, repetition for the sake of it (which is the basis of much art) is when you know that becoming has shifted to being. However you may fairly ask: if becoming is the whole game how do I 'achieve' anything? You need to align your attempts at becoming with the static markers offered by the WEIRD world. Tests, exams, sales, books published, art works completed- all these are crude markers of success in the WEIRD world. They have value in as much as you cannpt escape your environment completely, yet, at the same time, if they oppress one and cause strain and anguish they must be relinquished immediately. All these markers are simply there to spur one on. The moment they do the reverse- ditch 'em. In aikido Takeno Sensei stated that one demonstration is worth a month of practice. And you can get ready for a demo in a few days of focused training. In writing, if you publish a book you learn 10 times what you can learn if you simply write a manuscript and leave it on your hard drive. Publishing immature or crap work may harm your static world 'rep' but you will learn from it...and that is worth far more. Having an art exhibition will teach you more about your work than simply beavering away alone (if you take it as a positive learning experience judged before what others say rather than a thumbs up or thumbs down from arbitrary critics).