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
As creative artists and writers, we often have to break the rules. We don’t live our lives the way other people do. We don’t follow the same script as everyone else and that scares the hell out of a lot of people. Our culture is naturally suspicious of those who50
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
What am I missing? This is the question I always seem to be asking myself. What am I missing? What else do I need to know before I can do this? No matter what I’m trying to do, I never feel ready to get started. Maybe if I read just50
Nobody likes to be pushed around We all have our familiar comfort zones. Those areas in our personal and professional life where we prefer to operate. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always work that way. There will, of course, be times when things fall apart and we’re forced to do something that50
Creativity is not a one-time thing. It starts with an idea, we find the courage to make the attempt, and then we jump blindly into the dark. Then we have to find a way to do it again…. and again…
Be afraid It’s okay to be afraid. Our fear can often hold us back, but it can also be used as motivation to push us forward It’s only when our fear of missing out becomes stronger than our fear to try (and possibly fail), that we will finally stop putting things50
Who have you inspired today? Things rarely happen the way we expect them to. Sometimes we are filled with creative ideas, but we don’t have any time to work on them. Other times, we will sit and stare for hours at a blank page and wonder what the hell is the50
We think we know where we are going. After all, we’ve got it all planned out. We’re going to start here, do this, and then we are going to end up here–except it doesn’t. Stuff happen, plans change, and we are forced to adjust. Things may not always work out50
We all love the masters of our art Whether it’s reading the bestselling authors in our genre or staring at awe at the paintings that hang in the museum, most of us enjoy seeing the best that our creative field has to offer. We sometimes forget, however, that there is50
Sure it’s hard to be original, especially when we are surrounded by millions of websites, products, books, and paintings. Maybe there really is nothing new under the sun and it has all been done before, but that’s okay. We don’t need originality. We don’t really need that one big idea50
Why do we constantly fight life? Most of us resist change. We hate when things happen in our life that are beyond our control. So we resist, we fight, and we stand our ground. Sometimes, however, we would be far better off if we stopped fighting and simply allowed reality50
Sometimes we forget. Sometimes we are working so hard to get what we think we want, that we lose sight of why we wanted it in the first place. We’ve been told that giving up is failure. We’ve been taught to hold on tightly to everything that we have while50
It’s not (always) your fault As creative artists we tend to blame ourselves. Maybe I’m not talented enough… Maybe I’m not smart enough… Maybe it’s just not meant to be… Now of course there’s something to be said about taking responsibility for your choices and living with the consequences of50
Gratitude is for losers I remember my Dad telling me when I was growing up that I should be grateful for what I have while continuing to work on what I want. At the time, I figured he was just telling me one of those weird Dad things that never really seemed50
We think we know We can’t often see what lies ahead of us. We may think we know, but in reality we’re just guessing. We want to feel like we are in control, that we’re the ones steering the ship. If we do this, we’ll get that. If we go50
Looking like an idiot Let’s face it, nobody likes to screw up If we had our choice, we would probably avoid it at all costs. Unfortunately that’s not the way the world works. Sooner or later we’re going to make mistakes and things are going to get messy. So the50
We all want to fit in Even though we may not want to admit it, we all want to fit in and be liked. We want to have our creative work noticed and appreciated. In other words, we want to create something that people will like. So we look to50
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
Hold on! How many times have you been told to “hang in there” until things get better? It seems we are constantly being told that quitting or giving up is only for losers and if we can just hold on a little bit longer, we will achieve all of our50
Sometimes it’s easy to feel like we know what’s best. Especially once we become parents, it’s natural for us to give advice and try to teach our children right from wrong. The problem is that we start to buy into this idea and expand our judgment to the rest of the50
Most of us like easy and there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, if I had my choice between easy and hard, I’d take easy every single time. But unfortunately, that’s not how the world usually works. Sure we can always take the easy way out, but that’s probably not50
Maybe or maybe not Once there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. When they heard the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically. “Maybe,” replied the farmer. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with50
The perks of being a wallflower For whatever reason, there seems to be this perception in our culture that those who know speak up, while those who don’t stay silent. In other words, the loudest bird not only gets the worm, but it also gets the money, fame, and recognition too.50
Nobody likes to screw up. None of us wakes up in the morning and say to ourselves. ‘I really hope today’s the day that I totally ruin this painting or write another blog post that completely sucks!’ We don’t plan to fail, but sometimes it happens and that’s okay. We make mistakes,50
Advice is one of those things that everyone loves to give but nobody likes to take. They also say, however, that there are two ways to learn something — from other people’s experiences or your own. So unless you have the time and energy to make all the mistakes yourself,50
Sometimes we get fooled into believing that what we create doesn’t matter. We forget that we are a part of something much larger than ourselves. Although we have been forged by our culture, our family, and our past experiences — our voice is still ours alone. We must learn how50
Let’s face it, it’s never a good time to get started. No matter where we are in our life, there will always be a reason to wait. We need more time, more money, more education, more experience. We tell ourselves that when things slow down, we’ll get started. These50
Everything you do matters. It may not matter to anyone else, but everything you think and everything you do has the ability to change you — either for the better or worse. As Thomas Merton said, every moment and every event that happens to you, plants something in your50
Sometimes we just try too hard… We try to be perfect. Sometimes we are so busy attempting to get everything done on our to-do list, that we forget why we are doing any of this in the first place. We forget that it’s not always about selling our next50
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
We often spend so much of our day frantically running from place to place trying to check the items off our to-do list, that we forget — We forget that we have a choice. We forget that despite what we may tell ourselves as our exhausted little head hits50
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
Most of us learn on our first day of school that it’s not always good to stand out — to be seen as different. We quickly learn that the oddballs are shunned and the rule breakers often get punished So do everything we can to blend in, to keep ourselves from50
Despite our current circumstances or what others may have told you, we are the creators of our lives. We are the directors and we have the final say about who gets to play a part in our life’s movie. Just like an actor, we sometimes have to pretend that we50
Just be yourself … Sure it’s easy to say, but it’s not always so easy to do. Why is that? I mean what is so hard about being the person you already are? Well honestly it wouldn’t be that difficult if everyone else wasn’t constantly butting into our lives50
Don’t waste any more time sitting around waiting to be picked or look for someone else to give you permission to do what you want to do. This isn’t your 10th grade gym class, this is your life. If you want to become a writer, an artist, or a musician50
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
Is it fate or simply arrogance? Is it really our destiny to succeed, or is it just our over-developed creative ego talking? When do we know if we’re really the creative artist that we think/hope we are? When exactly does perseverance turn into foolishness, and when does self-confidence become50