Our Deepest Fear...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." —Marianne Williamson


Absolutely my favorite quote ever. Ever. Every time I hear those words spoken, every time I read them, I am inspired. Inspired to do more, to be more, to be better. Inspired not to let the fear keep me from whatever I want most in this life. I hope these words inspire you as well.

For Whom Do We Create?

As creatives, we are accustomed to providing products that speak to the masses. After all, that's what we ourselves are designed to do: Create for others to consume. If no one read the words we wrote, would we still write? If no one looked at the art we created, would we still design?

I like to think so. Creation in and of itself should be for one's self, for the one, rather than for others to use, abuse, or admire. Introducing something new to the world that just one moment before never existed is a miracle, and that should be enough for all of us. Who cares, really, if anyone else sees what we do? The one that matters sees all we create, whether we share it with the world or not. To do that, to create and give back to the creator is more than any of us can hope for. I think that is the greatest contribution we creatives can make, to honor the one from whom all our talent is derived ... the rest, admiration and validation from the masses, is simply to feed the ego, which, from time to time, does need fed.

We all want others to love or hate what we create. We want our work to make an impression on people, good or bad, so long as it evokes emotion and gets people talking. But for most of us, that simply isn't the primary reason for creating our work. We create because we can, because we are driven to express ourselves in an artistic way, moved to use our God-given talent as expected to do so. Admiration and validation are secondary to all of that.

On second thought, I could be wrong about all of this ...

Serendipity

Serendipity: the making of fortunate and unexpected discoveries quite by accident. Is it fate, or sheer luck that comes into play when serendipitous acts occur? I'd like to think it was fate that had a hand in this, that God is somehow moving people into places so the circumstances can play out in just such a way that the outcome is fortunate to those involved. Is that too much to hope for? I don't think so. My faith tells me otherwise.