Thoughts for Our Times: What we LOVE vs. What We VALUE

Being in the world of retail sales for a substantial part of my life has given me some interesting insights into the human psyche.

Sales is a sometimes rewarding and often frustrating field, and whenever someone talks about getting into some sales-related business, I always ask them about the state of their self-esteem.

Why?

Cactus in bloom...

In Sales, You Usually Get REJECTED

In sales, you probably get more rejections than in almost any other field. If you are selling some product or service, you may face a day in which you have to deal with 30 "nos" for everyine ONE "yes," and that might be considered good performance!

But I digress.

Being in the art gallery business, I am often witness to one of the interesting "contradictions" in human nature: Namely, that what we love in life isn't necessarily also what we value.

I watch this play out with the work of several of our artists who show at the gallery. At least a couple I can think of have some of the most admired items on the premises; art so compelling that some of our customers come back to "visit it," on a regular basis. It doesn't take a degree in rocket science to conclude that people love this art!

And yet? This work almost never sells.

Honeysuckle in bloom... memories of summer!

You LOVE it, but You Don't WANT it?

One painter is a particularly fine example of this: She has a large fan base of admirers, including the people who come to "visit" her work at our gallery. Her work is not particularly expensive, as original oil paintings go... and yet, we are lucky to sell maybe one or two of her pieces every year.

To me, that's a clear example of something people really love, but they don't value.

Meanwhile, we have much "lesser" art at the gallery — in the same (or higher) price range — that seems to sell on a regular basis, even though we've never seen anybody particularly "moved" by it.

That's just one firsthand example.

Something similar happens with writers and books.

There are many people who love certain authors and their amazing and evocative stories, and yet? When they stand at the bookstore, they stock up on a stack of C-grade pulp fiction.

So what's really going on here?

Water and Sky

Playing it Safe...

From my non-expert seat on the porch, I think we love and admire great talent, genius and creativity... but ultimately we value safety and known quantities.

That pulp fiction and the so-so art we sell doesn't make anyone "stand out," and can be found in hundreds of "versions" pretty much anywhere in the world. Whereas it might be quite good, it is also not something that stands out, or gets you noticed and even provokes people to ask questions that might require you to reveal parts of your own essential self to the world.

It's simply "easier" to have a painting of a generic sailboat, or guy on a golf course on your walls... than to explain the passion you feel for a lonely looking woman on a windswept seashore. It's also "easier" to hold up a NYT bestseller everyone is familiar with than to explain an esoteric novel to someone... and risk that they offer only a "blank look" at the end of your explanation.

Naturally, there are exceptions. But they tend to be sadly few...

Thanks for reading!

What do YOU think? Do you think there's a difference between what we love and what we value? Do most people value the "easy way out," so they don't have to face questions about their preferences? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

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Created at 181222 17:19 PDT