Letter from Tina & Ryan: TGD in 2017

A Letter from the Cofounders

The Great Discontent isn’t just the name of our publication—it's what pulls us forward and drives us to create. The iconic Patti Smith recently described* this pursuit so eloquently:

“When you have that [vision and calling] and feel that you can’t live without pursuing it, then you have to do everything you can to magnify the gift you have, and it’s going to cost you. You have to be willing to sacrifice. You have to be willing to work really hard. You have to be willing to go years without recognition and acknowledgment.

In the face of all that, you have to maintain your vision as vision...the way I look at art is that it is a sacred quest. It doesn’t have anything to do with fame and fortune. You can achieve fame and fortune in pursuit of it because perhaps the stars align, but that can’t be your prime directive.

Your prime directive has to be to do something new, to give something new to the canon of art, to give something new to the people, and to do something great, to do something enduring, to do something inspiring—something that will take people where they’ve never been taken. You have to remember why you want to create."

In the New Year, instead of making a resolution, we're remembering our why, as Patti urges. For us, TGD was born as an outlet to ask what no one was asking, to uncover what it really took to pursue a creative path. From the beginning, we chose to talk honestly with our subjects about their lives and the paths they've chosen.

More than 5 years later, we've spoken to over 250 subjects and shared those conversations online, in print, on our podcast, and at live events. We've discovered that we're not the only ones wrestling with our discontent, attempting to discover what's possible and still have a sense of hope that this path—which often demands hard work, sacrifice, and the willingness to forego recognition—is possible.

Patti's words are a reminder that it is possible, but we must remember our why. This year as our work continues our why is close to our hearts, because it's our story and it embodies the community we call home. In 2017, we're making the independent creative community an even bigger focus of TGD as we highlight the stories of those who are making on their own terms and know what it means to hustle.

Here's to a new year, to finding or rediscovering your why, and to the pursuit of something more.

Content in our discontent,
Tina & Ryan

*Patti Smith quote from this episode of Here's The Thing with Alec Baldwin.

What You Can Expect from TGD in 2017

Online Magazine: We'll continue to publish interviews online at thegreatdiscontent.com to provide you with invaluable insight into how others have embarked on the creative journey.

Stay connected and say hi.