It’s not always easy Everyday it seems as if we have people telling us to do more, sleep less, and work harder. Most of us keep running because that’s what we’ve been told to do. We don’t always think about what we are doing or even why we may be50
It’s okay We may never become the next Picasso, Hemingway, or Mozart — but that’s okay. It’s enough just to create something. To offer the world something it’s never seen before. Your story, your song, or your painting shared with the rest of us. Maybe it will turn out to be50
It’s easy to talk about it Sometimes we talk about creativity (myself included) as if we have it all figured out. But creativity constantly changes. It’s like a mirage that as soon as you think you are getting close, it retreats further into the distance. Talking about wanting to be a writer,50
Haters are gonna hate Let’s face it, we’re never going to make everyone happy. No matter what we create or how we choose to live our life, there will always be somebody out there who doesn’t like what we do. We can’t afford to water down our art in order to make people like50
Too often we try to protect our creative ideas. We don’t feel like they’re ready to go out into the world, or we’re afraid that someone else might run off with them. We don’t know when we may get another good one, so we hold back. We wait and hold our50
Being considered normal is a strange thing (not that I would really know). On one hand, being normal indicates a sense of belonging and membership into a group. Being normal means that you are in the majority or at least similar to the people you are hanging out with. Normal50
100% (not) Guaranteed! When you choose to be a creative artist, there are no guarantees. There are no promises or assurances that our latest project will be a success, but we do it anyway. We are always incomplete. We will never have everything we (think) we need in order to50
Nothing good comes from comparing ourself or our creative work with someone else. When you start comparing yourself to others, you end up with two outcomes, neither of them are very helpful to you. Either you fall into the insidious trap of believing your creative work is inferior to50
Sometimes it’s difficult impossible to know exactly what our audience wants to read, see, or hear. You can never be sure if what you create is going to connect with your audience, or even if they are going to care. Especially these days with the instant feedback of sites50
For those who have the ability to see it, the world around us is bursting with possibilities and beauty. As artists and writers we grab our tools and clumsily try to recreate the image that we see in our mind. However there is far more out there than we will50
It’s too easy these days to conform, to fall in line, and be the person they want us to be. These days with the internet and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, we are more connected than ever with mass marketed culture and expectations. There is also another side50
Why are we always so afraid of making mistakes? I don’t know about you, but I still have this tendency to beat myself up whenever I discover that I screwed something up ….again. As much as we would like to think otherwise, we end up creating our life as50
When is enough enough? When is the effort needed to chase the dream no longer worth the price you’ll have to pay? When is it time to start enjoying the things you already have in your life? They say that the best things in life are free. Things such as50
They say that we become the average of the five people we hang around with the most. And although it may be true that the people we hang out with have a profound impact on our lives, I also think that it goes much deeper than that. Everything we feed50
When I hear the words “Anything can happen“, I never know exactly what to think. One one hand I hear that little voice inside my head urging me to keep moving forward with my latest project. At the same time, however, I also hear a slightly more menacing voice uttering50
You have to find a way to use your creative voice even if no one else seems to be listening. Create because you want/need to create, not because you want to be heard. Being heard is about fame and recognition for what you have done, but creation is about having50
Every time we sit down to practice our art, it changes us. It’s been said that we’re not the same person that we were yesterday, nor the person that we will become tomorrow. So every day that we don’t find the time to practice our art is an opportunity wasted.50
How can we live a more creative life? It’s been said that we learn very little from our successes. After all, it’s really not that difficult to read a gushing review of our work or to deposit that big fat commission check in the bank. So what exactly do we50
Sometimes it feels like we spend so much time trying to get ourselves noticed, that we forget why we’re doing all of this in the first place. When we base our level of success on fame, money, and admiration we soon discover that there is never enough. When we50
Let’s face it failure sucks. One moment we’re all excited about this fantastic new idea or project, and then the next thing we know, we are sitting there picking up the broken pieces of our life. Luckily for us, failure is never final. Even though we may have temporarily fallen,50
Just let it go. At some point in our lives we all have to learn how to let go. You would think that this would be easy. It would seem that letting go would be a lot easier than holding on — but it’s not. We cling to the familiar50
Sometimes we spend so much time worrying about our results and the “what-ifs” that we never get around to actually getting started. Remember that there will always be time to edit, revise, and erase later if necessary — but first we have to take action. Do whatever your can to50
Sometimes it seems like we don’t really have a choice. It feels like what we do, where we have to go, and ultimately who we become has already been decided for us. We feel powerless. In the end, however, it’s your life and only you will decide what type of50
Too often we sit around and wait for inspiration as if it were a UPS driver who suddenly shows up at our door to brings us a package. We wait until everything is just right, but what we don’t understand is that everything we need is already right there in50
As teachers and parents sometimes we forget how much a simple word of encouragement can mean to a child. When we tell them that what they create or what they have to say matters, we are teaching them to believe in themselves, which is one of the best gifts anyone50
Before we can help others. Before we are able to love someone else, we need to first learn how to accept and love ourself with all of our little imperfections. John Lennon discovered like so many before him, that before we can change the world, we need to first change50
What is the secret to being creative? Some people believe that creative talent is a gift that is only offered to a privileged few. Others believe that creativity is something that can be developed through years of practice and perseverance. What do you think? In her book, “The Artist’s Way”50
[Click on the image to make it larger] Despite what people may tell you, creating art is not easy. Creating art (or anything) is hard work and chances are it’s going to take awhile to get to that point where you are creating something worthwhile. You’re going to try and50
Art is not easy. In fact, writing and creating art is often hard and frustrating work. Those of us, however, who choose this path do it because it’s what we love to do. We are thought collectors. We are interpreters. We are creators. That is simply who we50
[Click image to make it larger] I have always loved this artist’s blessing from the late great Irish poet John O’Donohue. It talks about the mysterious creative process where we often find ourselves waiting for our muse to speak to us. That moment when we are finally able to reach beyond50
You don’t have to be original and you don’t need to be revolutionary, you just have to learn how to speak in your own creative voice. Find a way to bring your life and your experiences into your work. There are no new or undiscovered plots under the sun, only50
Everyone has a creative gift to share. Everyone has a story to tell. What’s your story?
Those of you who have been around the Skinny Artist community for awhile probably already know that this is the book that I recommend the most to all types of creative artists. One of the reasons is the fact that this book doesn’t attempt to tell you how to create50
We all know what it’s like to feel like we are out there competing against the world. Sometimes it feels like it’s us against them. If they win we lose, and the only way we rise to the top is by pulling someone else down. The truth, however, is that50
Choose exhilaration over comfort. Choose magic over predictability. Choose potential over safety. Sometimes in order to live the life we want to have, we need to put our fears aside and jump.
It’s far too easy to get discouraged by our current progress (or lack thereof) towards achieving our creative dreams, but success inevitably grows by the seeds we plant today. Even if we are unable to see the results of our hard work today, we need to have faith and realize that50