Comforting Thought: Disruptive Creators Versus Custodians & Curators

Kindness woman psychology Olivia Laing, The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone

If we were all disruptive artists all the time – nothing in society would be coherent. No one would be obliged to do anything other than follow whatever short term whims took their fancy. Fortunately- many people are instead curators. Those who set up permanent exhibitions based on unifying themes and help to rein in the unruly artists. Even better, some act as custodians, maintaining and protecting what already exists. Custodians help to preserve what is important from the threat posed by short-term disruption. We should thank them for that.

“The curators and custodians of life should be in demand in job advertisements and well-remunerated for their efforts. They should not be ashamed that they are not entrepreneurs or artists – quite the contrary, because artistic innovation is, in fact, only possible when there are others who are curators and custodians, creating frameworks and maintaining them rather than always pushing the boundaries and breaking things down.

Being a custodian is in itself a life art, and there will be a a great need for them in the future.” ~ Svend Brinkmann.

From: The Joy of Missing Out by Svend Brinkmann

Svend Brinkmann

Svend Brinkmann is a Danish Professor of Psychology in the Department of Communication and Psychology at Aalborg University, Denmark. He serves as a co-director of the Center for Qualitative Studies and is the author of ‘The Joy of Missing Out’ and ‘Stand Firm’.

The Joy of Missing Out by Svend Brinkmann

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8 thoughts on “Comforting Thought: Disruptive Creators Versus Custodians & Curators

  1. I love this. It reminds me of an article I read a long time ago about having an “ordinary” job, that the world needs those who don’t necessarily work for the love of their job but find meaning elsewhere.

    We need roofs and floors to support the walls. 😃

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m so glad you liked this book my friend. Yeah definitely worth a re-read, I borrowed it from the library and definitely wanting to get a copy to a second read for sure. I’ve tried to take out a lot of the timeless nuggets of wisdom out of these and onto this blog over the coming months 🙂 hope you had a nice Easter 🤗 take care

      Like

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