Oh thank you for posting! For me, this year? Finding wonderful communities of artists locally and online. Having the time and resources to focus on my art. Sounds generic when I write it out, but I have shifted much more of my time to art this year, and I’m so happy that (a) I can and (b) it’s working out.
Hi Liz!
I really have been amazed at the online artist community. It turns out that once you break through that lone-wolf facade, most artists are pretty social people once you get to know them.
As visual artists/writers/musicians we create something that is both completely unnecessary (from an economic standpoint), and yet so completely necessary (to our creative soul). When you think about those people around the world who never get a chance to express their creativity because they are too busy just trying to survive day-to-day, it makes you realize just how lucky we really are!
Thanks again Liz for stopping by and sharing your thoughts :)
Drew,
Thank you for such a wonderful reminder of the things that are important. My favorite line from above is: “Contentment and gratitude are not some kind of new-age code for sitting around on your ass all day feeling good about yourself as an artist.” There are far too many people that have that attitude of entitlement. So I am thankful that I do not take my career as an artist for granted…it is all incredibly fleeting. I am humbled by the mere fact that I can do and be what I absolutely love.
~ S L Donaldson
You’re absolutely right! As much as we (meaning me) bitch and complain on this site about being unappreciated as an artist/writer/or whatever — I know how fortunate we are to have the chance to create our art. You don’t have to look around too far to realize that everyone is not so lucky. . .
Hopefully it’s possible to bitch about it and be grateful for it all at the same time ;)
For me, drawing breath is a good enough reason. :) The miracle of life, the inherent kindness in the nature of life and the fact that we can do whatever we want with it . . . that’s at the very top of my list. That you are all here for me to share with and to serve in the ways that I can, that’s another. That we are currently living in times that engender and expand these things within all of us so readily . . . if I were the luckiest man alive, I couldn’t ask for more.
I couldn’t have said it any better myself Jamie :)
I think you’re right that in the end it’s not about what you create or what kind of recognition you think you deserve. . . . it’s about what you can share and do for others. That seems to be the lesson all of us are here to learn.
Thank you for helping me stop in the middle of my busy day and reflect on how lucky I am to be having a “busy day”! It’s so easy to get bogged down with what I call “quality problems”. I am so grateful to be able to do work I love with the complete and unwavering support of my husband and the rest of my family. Tomorrow my son is coming home for the holiday…….What can I say? Life is sweet! Thanks!
Hi Dianne!
I remember reading somewhere that in some zen monasteries they ring a bell several times a day while the monks are out and about attending to their daily chores. When they hear this bell chime, they’re supposed to stop whatever they are doing and refocus their mind on the present moment. Perhaps we could all use this type of daily reminder to not take these precious moments in our lives for granted (I know I certainly could!)
Gratitude for great friends and great writers. I’m grateful for a warm safe home, being able to grow my own clean food and being able to teach my children what I feel is important. I am grateful for a mind that can wander into creativity even when my hands can’t. (: Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Drew!
Thank you so much for your holiday wishes Amy! I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with friends, family, and perhaps a few stolen moments of solitude along the way.
I think it’s amazing how simply talking about all of this with you guys has made me once again appreciate just how lucky I am. So thank you everyone and please keep them coming! :)
“At times our light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” ~Albert Schweitzer via The Skinny Artist. This Albert Schweitzer quote describes my gratitude for the bubbling, generous arts community on Twitter. I feel so grateful to all the people on Twitter who have interacted with me and who I’ve gotten to know throughout the year.
There’s so much encouragement and contagious art buzz and excitement every day on Twitter. Having the privilege of jumping right into the constant Twitter art stream and being buoyed up with so much positivity and so many amazing forms of creativity splashing around definitely helped wake up my dormant creativity into actively making art again. Thanks online art peeps! I really appreciate it. :)
I think you’re right Julia that it’s the ability of the internet to bring us together that makes it so powerful. I think eventually we’ll get past the novelty aspect of the internet where we all share our favorite “cat flushing the toilet” videos, and it will become more of a medium where real online conversations and communities are formed that rival anything “offline”. In fact, I can see this beginning to happen more and more everyday even on humble little sites such as this one.
With the rise of Twitter, Facebook, and all the other social media sites — It has become easier than ever to find those people who naturally connect with our personality and “just get” who we are. That means we no longer have to force a particular friendship or pretend to be someone we’re not. We can simply be who we are, and those people who get that, will eventually find us.
As someone who’s personality is certainly not for everyone, I can say that I’m extremely grateful to be living in this digital age ;)
Drew,
I appreciate you and our stimulating exchanges and the way your thoughts often coincide with mine, the way that you have time for everyone and the pragmatic but passionate honesty that you show to the World everyday.
I also appreciate my life and all of its struggles :-) To struggle is to learn, to fail is to yearn, to be wise is to earn.
Well done mate, enjoy it!
Thank you Gwylym for your kind words. Your support of me and this site is truly appreciated :D
After reading your comment and talking with you about your own writing and poetry, I was reminded of a quote by the great Irish playwright and poet Samuel Beckett when he said: “Fail, fail again, fail better”
The secret, of course, is that you can never stop trying . . .