I know a girl that wants to be an artist.
Not just an artist in the painting on canvas, or using charcoals on the page sense. She is also crazy about dance, watching it, choreographing her own dances, and preforming them. Music is something that causes her to swoon. She always has her hands on the piano or a guitar, trying to master the latest song she has heard or tinkering on her own song. Just about everything she wants to do is summed up in the statement, she is an artist.
But there is this one problem, a crippling and devastating problem she has.
She is scared.
I don’t know how many times I have told her that she has nothing to be scared of. I’ve told her that she is a talented kid and has a lot of potential.
But it doesn’t seem to go anywhere.
Rather than my words having gravity and effect, they seem to become a vapor and do nothing but irritate her.
Henri Matisse hit the nail on the head. “Creativity takes courage.”
It takes a step out into the “I don’t know if this is going to work” realm.
It says, “I’m going to try, whether I fail or not” and then actually tries.
It means that if she is going to do something that is unique, do something beautiful there has to be a risk.
If they are going to attempt something new, express themselves differently, they are going to have to come out of their comfort zone.
If I was going to keep blogging, I needed to do what I had never done before.
I needed to take courage and try.
It wasn’t easy.
I had days when I looked at the page, or I would stare at my computer screen and feel utterly defeated.
But I do have these 3 reminders that are constantly pushing me forward, pushing me to be courageous and try.
Number One: Everything worth doing carries some sense of risk to it.
No matter what you try to do, whether it is art or business, there is risk involved.
There is a chance that you will fail.
There is a chance that things will not go the way that you want.
Most times, this is what people spend most of their time focusing on.
What are the chances this won’t work out?
What can I do to minimize my failing, my not succeeding?
While it is important to assess the possibilities of failure at whatever it is you desire to do, that isn’t the only thing to think about.
What happens when you make it?
What happens if everything goes according to plan?
What if, once you have put paint to canvas, someone wants to buy it and hang it in their house?
What if, when you have recorded your bands first EP, a record company calls you with a record deal?
As much as there is a chance to fail, there is always a greater chance of success.
The question is, will you risk what chance at failure at the very real chance that things will work out?
Because no matter how prepared you are, no matter what precautions you take there will be a chance you don’t make it.
But you can.
And the risk, the chance is totally worth taking.
Number Two: No matter how alone you may feel, that is not the truth.
This is something that everyone struggles with, the feeling of loneliness.
This is only amplified by a world that indulges in technology that estranges human contact in the physical sense.We no longer are interested in face to face contact. It is much easier to send a text.
This sense of loneliness may be universal, but curiously enough, so are our dreams.
You want to be a professional piano player. You aren’t alone. There are thousands of other people that want to do that as well. To feel the ivory keys move gracefully and elegantly, bringing souls to life in a moment of musical ecstasy; to hear a crowd hush to hear your strike a single chord, then continue to play through a movement of a beautiful symphony, other people dream of that too.
The problem is either we don’t talk about it, or we don’t know where these dream sharers are.
To that I say, Google them.
Look for those people that share a passion you have. Search for those people whose spirit is alive with the same desire that is burning inside of you.
If it is painting you want to do, Google painters in your area.
Or musicians, or writers or whatever it is that you want to do.
Guaranteed, there is at least one other person in your area that wants to do or is already doing what you desire to do.
All you have do to is take that step out of your lonely little world and open yourself up to the much bigger one.
Number Three: Tomorrow is a new day.
This girl, the one that is an artist at heart, musically and artistically, showed me a painting recently.
She showed me an original painting, which in her words wasn’t at all what she wanted. It wasn’t what she envisioned in her head it would be.
A few days later, she showed it to me again. This time it was different. She had changed it. It was more abstract than she was normally into but I really liked it. When I told her that, she said that she wasn’t done yet, that this wasn’t the final product.
After a few more days, I saw the final product.
It screamed a truth that every would be artist needs to know.
Today isn’t the end all and be all.
Things may not work out today. Your painting may stink after your first attempt.
Your first EP may not get picked up by a record company.
Maybe your manuscript will be turned down.
But that is not the end.
Tomorrow, you can try again.
Tomorrow you can start with a fresh canvas.
Tomorrow is a day that is not a day covered in fear and failure. Rather, tomorrow is a day filled with hope.
Because maybe tomorrow you will be able to finish that masterpiece.
Because maybe tomorrow will be the day you write the number one hit song.
Because maybe tomorrow you will do what you could not do today.
Like I said before, Henri Matisse hit the nail on the head.
“Creativity takes courage.”
There is a risk to be an artist.
There is a risk to doing anything, anything that you deeply and passionately want to do.
But,
If you remember that the end result is worth the risk,
If you remember that you aren’t alone,
And if you remember that tomorrow is a new day filled with hope
You will succeed at whatever you set your mind to.
Shalom.
CHRISTIAN THOUGHT SANDBOX 