Non-Competition

“Non-Com­pe­ti­tion” delves into the dis­tinc­tive nature of art as a reflec­tion of the indi­vid­ual cre­ator, argu­ing that com­pe­ti­tion is incon­gru­ous in the realm of artis­tic endeav­or. The chap­ter empha­sizes the per­son­al­ized jour­ney of each artist, stat­ing that each piece of art is an exten­sion of the artist’s iden­ti­ty and, there­fore, incom­pa­ra­ble to the works of oth­ers. This dis­tinc­tive­ness ren­ders the con­cept of com­pe­ti­tion irrel­e­vant, as the objec­tive of art is not to sur­pass oth­ers but to embody and express the unique­ness of its cre­ator.

The nar­ra­tive acknowl­edges the com­mon per­spec­tive that com­pe­ti­tion can dri­ve artists to excel beyond their cur­rent capa­bil­i­ties, sug­gest­ing that the desire to out­do oth­ers can some­times moti­vate artists to push their cre­ative bound­aries. How­ev­er, it chal­lenges this notion by argu­ing that such com­pet­i­tive­ness oper­ates on a detri­men­tal vibra­tional lev­el. It posits that striv­ing to out­per­form peers does not fos­ter gen­uine great­ness or well-being. Draw­ing on Theodore Roosevelt’s insight, the chap­ter high­lights how com­par­i­son can rob indi­vid­u­als of joy, ques­tion­ing the val­ue of cre­at­ing art with the intent to over­shad­ow oth­ers.

Con­verse­ly, the chap­ter intro­duces a more pos­i­tive form of inspi­ra­tion that comes from admi­ra­tion rather than com­pe­ti­tion. It sug­gests that being inspired by the achieve­ments of fel­low artists can ele­vate an indi­vid­u­al’s ambi­tions and cre­ative output—a sen­ti­ment encap­su­lat­ed by Bri­an Wilson’s reac­tion to the Bea­t­les’ “Rub­ber Soul”. Wilson’s expe­ri­ence illus­trates how wit­ness­ing excel­lence in one’s field can pro­pel an artist towards achiev­ing their per­son­al best with­out the neg­a­tive impli­ca­tions asso­ci­at­ed with com­pe­ti­tion. This alter­na­tive ener­gy of aspir­ing to meet or exceed the stan­dards set by remark­able works is pre­sent­ed as a health­i­er, more pro­duc­tive force in the artis­tic process.