I’ve been packing up to move to a new house and in the process I’ve come across some old artwork and manuscripts. I wish I could say I found some gems to resurrect but no, sadly this is not the case. I’ve spent years building businesses and too many times I’ve put my creative work aside. This year has obviously been a buzz. Is there anything better than following your heart? 
One of the benefits of having a small following as a Creative is that unless you are really lucky/nailing it, it can take a while to hit your artistic stride. I say benefit, because you can get away with being a hot mess as pretty much no one is watching!
Admittedly there are some young artists who seem to know exactly who they are and what they want to say from the outset. Check out CJ Hendry, Ben Quilty, Michael Zavros, Troye Siven – all crazy-talented and focussed.
Scrolling through Instagram or an art site like Bluethumb, I’m staggered by the artistic maturity of some 20-year-olds these days. Staggered because I’m still finding my voice, as a writer, and I’m well into my 40s. But as I’ve written before the only way to find our voice is through daily work on our art.
The challenge is to keep on writing, experimenting and learning and not giving in to any fear or self-doubt that surfaces. As Howard Martin from HeartMath says, sometimes we give up too quickly on the things that will help us most.
I can only speak for myself but I think it’s easier to give up than to push through. Sure quitting makes us unhappy, frustrated and disgusted with ourselves in the long run but it can feel like the right thing to do when the going gets tough in your creative work, especially if you need to make some cash or justify your existence in some way.
But we keep writing, painting and performing because, well, we must…
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