Category: Creativity

If I was going to die in the next month or so, I would want to leave something behind for my children and grandchildren and maybe even their grandchildren. I would want to leave all the things I have learned by living my life in my time for them to consider. I would want them to know how it is now and how things have changed from my perspective. I would want them to know the things it took me a lifetime to figure out. I would want them to know every creativity thing I know and every beautiful thing I had the honor of being a part of.

If I could have a book with all these things in it from my grandmother and mother and father I would have been enriched so much and I would know where I came from and maybe why I do things that I do. But alas I only have pictures left from my grand parents and they dont tell me anything about what was going on inside their heads and hearts. Even my own parents have not told me the inner secrets of their lives.

So I am going to do it for my granddaughter and my son. They are going to know everything because I am going to write it down. Dear reader, you too should write it down, write it down now, before it is gone forever.

Sometimes I hear people say they don’t think they are good enough to continue on some creative pursuit. It does not matter if you are or you aren’t. You only have to do it for the joy of doing it. That is all that matters. It does not matter if nobody else likes your work. They are not in charge of your life. They don’t know what steps it takes to get to where you are going.

The pleasure of life is the trip, not getting there. Goals are only important to keep you on the road. They are not the be-all and end-all. Winning, selling, publishing, starring or anything else is not important. Only the effort to continue on the journey is important.

No effort equals no life. simple as that.

Doing something different than you have done before is audacious. Who are you to think your idea is better than everyone else. How come nobody has thought of this before if it is such a good idea. There are millions of people who could have thought of this first so why do you think you are the chosen one???
You ARE the chosen one.

You might have the best idea for where you are in the whole world.
Ideas are not doled out to the only the smartest people on the block. They are doled out to the ones who listen and ACT. You can’t just think about it and say oh that is my idea.
An idea without legs is just nothing. NO thing.
But an idea with guts and bricks and mortar, well that is the building of a nation.
If you have a good idea you MUST do it or you will not get any more good ideas.
People that act on one good idea will get another and another and another.
This is true. nothing less than flat out true.

I have been reading obituaries of late. They mostly say how loved the person was and that they lived and died and went to high school and had a job and some kids etc.

I think everyone should write their own obituary . It is the last thing you have to say to anyone on this earth. The profundity of that is overwhelming. It is the last time you have to say what you think is important to tell anyone who will listen. The last thing.

I would say what I learned by being alive. I would not list my accomplishments because it no longer matters. You do not sit around trying to justify your life by listing accomplishments. Life is a gift and what we do with it is our job, Nobody has to justify what is a gift. Nobody deserves to live. Nobody. It’s all a gift. The time we have is a gift. What you say before you leave this world should be so wonderful and life-giving to everyone you leave behind. Nobody cares if yo were the president of your class or a CEO now. They only care what you have to say right now as you are preparing to leave.

I know that this is not the usual approach and I read on the internet that an obituary is to sum your life up and notify others of your death. That is a very small treatment for a very big occasion. What you have to say in the last few months before you die – that is what I want to know.

Brother If I had a dollar for every time I thought I should be farther along than this by now, I would be rich. Now it will happen because a new agent is in my life and she is a wonder. Her mind just clicks clicks clicks away. WE are an unstoppable combo. There is no doubt that this is the missing link.

There is always a missing link. there is always something that you just arent seeing that someone else can see. We always stop ourselves from doing what we know we can. We do it to ourselves. Nobody outside is doing it. Nobody else cares.

When you sell tons of art two things happen. You can do more work and you can go more places and you can bless more people. Okay, three things.  It is sort of like creating a company. Companies are good because they make a product and employ people. All good, especially now. So if you should be a company and not just a person alone think about that. In this life you should do all you can do not just for you but for everyone else too. Its not all about you.

Go be a company!

photo by this person