From one artist to another, a helpful guide and a meditation on the nature of the ego and its toxic effects on the creative process Life Without Envy by Camille DeAngelis is a game-changer for artists of all stripes: a practical guide for navigating the feelings of jealousy, frustration, and inadequacy we all experience to create a happy life regardless of how your career is (or isn’t) going. In these pages you'll find strategies for escaping the negative feedback loop you get stuck in whenever you compare yourself to your fellow artists. You'll begin to resolve your hunger for recognition, shifting your mindset from “proving yourself” to making a contribution and becoming part of a supportive creative community. Best of all, you'll come to understand that your worth―as an artist and a human being―has nothing to do with how your work is received in the wider world. Life Without Envy offers a blueprint for real and lasting contentment no matter what setback you’re weathering in your creative life. “A self-help book that's actually helpful, Life Without Envy is a brilliantly frank but practical guide for navigating all the feels that go along with being a creative in a competitive and occasionally thankless world...This book seriously changed my outlook on things and I’m forever grateful for that.” ―Lenny Letter "DeAngelis does a terrific job of describing the ego and hits home with her wisdom on how to tame it." ― Library Journal “Camille could have titled this book Life with Sanity . Indispensable for anyone who's ever obsessed about the achievements of other people (I've never personally experienced this but I've been told it happens). Read it and choose happiness.” ―Dylan Kidd, director of Roger Dodger and P.S. "Every artist needs this book. Camille has created a gem of funny, friendly and DEEPLY insightful advice. I wish I'd read it years ago." ―Kerry Lemon Camille DeAngelis is the author of several novels for adults―each of them as full of impossible things as The Boy From Tomorrow ―as well as a travel guide to Ireland and two more books of nonfiction, Life Without Envy: Ego Management for Creative People and A Bright Clean Mind: Veganism for Creative Transformation . Her young adult novel Bones & All won an Alex Award from the American Library Association in 2016. She lives in Washington, DC. Life Without Envy Ego Management for Creative People By Camille DeAngelis St. Martin's Press Copyright © 2016 Camille DeAngelis All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-250-09934-1 Contents TITLE PAGE, COPYRIGHT NOTICE, DEDICATION, Introduction, A PINCHY SPOT, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU, A NASTY PLACE TO LIVE, STRUGGLE IS OPTIONAL, THE LAUGHTER OF SANITY, A CASE IN POINT, WHAT IS EGO, ANYWAY?, THREE VIGNETTES ON THE NATURE OF THE EGO, Part I: Common Misapprehensions, PERSONAL AGENCY? YOU'D LIKE TO THINK SO!, SWEET LITTLE BLOBS OF TEMPORARY PERSONHOOD, FUTURE SCIENCE, HURRY UP AND BE SOMEBODY, ANOTHER PERNICIOUS FANTASY, MANIFESTING THE AWESOME, FEAR NO ENVY, COURT NO PRAISE, THE CORPSE IN THE ATTIC, WHEN FAILURE ISN'T FAILURE, FACE THE UGLY, ALL THIS MONEY CAN'T BUY ME A TIME MACHINE, WHAT YOU DESERVE?, Part II: Strategies and Inspiration, TIPTOEING TOWARD OBJECTIVITY, YOUR FANCY DIPLOMA IN A NEW FRAME, MY, WHAT LOVELY PROBLEMS I HAVE!, BANDWIDTH AND SNUBBERY, A MERRY HEART DOETH GOOD LIKE A MEDICINE, BE YOUR OWN MAMA, WWJCD?, LOVE YOUR FATE, PART 1, LOVE YOUR FATE, PART 2, MAKE YOUR OWN ECSTASY, HOW TO LET GO, THE JOLLY GREAT TRUTH, MAKE YOURSELF USEFUL, CHANGING THE CULTURE, CALM AND CLEAR AND BRIGHT, MORE WORDS TO INSPIRE YOU, NOTES, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, ALSO BY CAMILLE DEANGELIS, ABOUT THE AUTHOR, COPYRIGHT, CHAPTER 1 PART I Common Misapprehensions Let's make sure our ideas of success are our own, that we are truly the authors of our own ambitions. — ALAIN DE BOTTON PERSONAL AGENCY? YOU'D LIKE TO THINK SO! Misapprehension #1: My thoughts are entirely my own. The way I think about the world, and my place in it, is completely unique to me. CAPITALISTS DESIGNED THE AMERICAN PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM TO TURN CHILDREN INTO OBEDIENT WORKERS. I know this sounds like the musings of a conspiracy theorist, but let's examine the facts: in 1843 US Congressman Horace Mann traveled to Prussia, where this civic-minded educational system was already in place, and when he got back to America he lobbied to emulate it. Educational historians laud Horace Mann as the champion of free public schooling to help children grow into educated voters, but there is a dark side to this system: his efforts opened classrooms to those kids besides boys from wealthy families, but in doing so Mann advocated for an orderly society at the expense of the individual. His educational vision implied that the "common" child — one not born into privilege — should learn to follow rules and directions rather than inventing his own, and for that Mann is remembered as