Monthly Archives: December 2011
Can You Do It?
When you set out to do something you’ve never done before (and even when you start a new project in a media that you have done before) this is the question that raises its head.
Can you do it?
Can you?
Unfailingly, I stumble on this question on every project. Usually midway through. When the first draft is solid and ready for revision. When revision is half-done. When I think I’ve got it just right and then something in me says: not yet.
This question disguises itself as a murky “there’s no way in hell I can do this” sensation followed by “who do I think I am?”
Ahh. These questions may have once caused me to slip under the silky waters of doubt.
Now I know they’re just part of the process. They mean I’m getting close. Close to achieving it. Close to doing it and doing it well. They mean I’m stretching, growing, gaining strength. Does it matter that this question appears in every project, even when I’ve done something many times over? Not at all.
Feeling uncertain about your ability to achieve your dream is a crossroads. You stop, you look all ways, you decide. Because you’re the only one who can decide if you can do it.
And you can.
And you decide that you can, over and over again. You choose to believe in yourself. In the Universe. In the project. In all the beautiful synchronicities that brought this project to you and you to this project – and all the talent, emotion and soul that you posses to pour into it.
Yes, you believe that you can. Because you know what? You are the only one who can.
No one else will ever be you. No one else will ever create what you will.
No one else can.
Turn off the media; turn on your power.
As you plan for 2012 and how you will shape the new year, remember that you have the power to make a positive difference.
If you listen to the media (which I no longer do), you’ll be inundated with messages of fear, despair, uncertainty – negativity of all sorts.
How much of that actually has to do with your real life?
When we stop allowing others to feed us fear, when we say “thanks, but no thank you” to fear, life settles into a far more realistic and optimistic state of being. The fear that the media creates draws listeners, pays advertisers. It separates us from our natural sense of power to shape and create our world.
So, as you move toward 2012, remember that you ARE powerful. Choose to stop letting the media influence your emotions.
If you or someone you know is facing a challenge, don’t wallow in fear. Ponder what action you can take to make a difference. Then do it. That’s how our world becomes a better place. One person at a time.
We are incredibly powerful. The sphere of influence that we each have is what we are responsible for. Use your power for good, to uplift, to encourage.
What we think about our world, is the kind of world we experience.
Create your world in 2012.
What Do We Expect Our Art to Do?
This is a question worth considering as you present your work to the public.
What is it that we expect of it? What reaction are we looking for? And perhaps more importantly, should we be looking for a reaction?
The answers come down to the intention we hold for our creative work.
Why do we do it? Who is it for? Are we creating for ourselves, for the fulfillment it provides us, for joy and satisfaction – for the sheer knowledge that the creative work is given to us to be expressed? Or are we creating it for an audience? To move people, inspire, invoke, disturb even?
Clearly, there can be mixed intentions. Giving some thought to what they are can help you prepare for the public’s reaction.
Even when you’ve been there, done that and the process is familiar – every new project deserves attention to this question.
What do you expect of your art? Who is it for?
creative inside out 