Do you know you are brave and beautiful? I don’t usually begin posts that way, but you spoke your fears out loud–you who are made to create–and I am overwhelmed with your confessions. They are my confessions, too.

Fear of failure, of rejection, of working hard and risking vulnerable  just to say what someone else already said better. We are a scared bunch, aren’t we? Longing to be seen but feeling safe when we’re invisible? Waiting for permission to create for real because what if? and what about? and what will they think?

I hope you are diving into the deep, sweet place of authentic this week. And I don’t mean climb into your quiet cave and wait for the Muse. No, I hope you are swimming around in the living; seeing the art in your husband’s eyes, delighting in the way her freckles are sprinkled just about her nose, feeling the warm sun on your back even in the bitter cold. It’s all art. And when we see it, we can better make it.

Wake up and dream to life those things that seem far off. Live the art you dream about. Embrace the ones you have. And then? Sit down and get to work. Because no truth is new truth, friend, it all belongs to God. Your voice is just one, and that makes it unique. You may not be the first to say it, but your saying it may be the first time we hear.

You need to live the art, and then you need to keep on making it. For you. And for us. Will you?