One of the biggest things that gets in our way when it comes to making art is our own ideas about it. We make it so mysterious, so ethereal, so other-than us. And it is, in a way. But if you keep it there, it will continue to be too big to touch. You fear you’ll wreck it all up if you dare to reach for it. So you leave it up there in the clouds, sparkling just out of reach. And it looks pretty and you cower beneath it all helpless and victimy.
Today is the day to reach your grubby hands up high, grab that sparkly dream off that too-high shelf and roll around in the mud with it. It is not as delicate as you think. It will not break and shatter. And neither will you. Well, you might. But that’s okay because your ego is a burden anyway. It is keeping you from the risk, and you can’t afford to live a life risk-free. It isn’t what you were made for.
“God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.”
2 Timothy 1:7, The Message
And so you (and I) operate on this level of constant self-editing, and so our creativity is polite and linear. And then we are discouraged. It’s no wonder. I’m not saying publish a blog post filled with raw rants, or put your first crack at your art on display. But I am saying you have to have a first crack. What do you have to lose?
No really, what do you have to lose? I want you to answer that in the comments, because sometimes just naming the fear sets us free. Here, I’ll go first.
If I create the art that really means something to me, people might not like it.
(I feel better already.)
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