It is Thanksgiving time in the United States, my favorite time of the year. I would bet, if you asked 20 people, “What is your favorite holiday?”, 18 of the would say “Thanksgiving!”
Thanksgiving comes with some stress, yes (will my gravy be too thin?), but, it is really about being THANKFUL to be together. To me, it doesn’t matter is you are at Grandma’s house with your entire family (I am praying for you LOL), or in your little apartment with your friends or just you and your dog…. It is a time to be thankful for where we live and what we do and who we are. All those kinds of things. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you reading this… I am thankful for all of you.
Today I would like to address the “what we do” part of being thankful. As most of you know I have several “jobs”. Truth? I enjoy all of them. Today, I want to talk about making ART.
I don’t know about you but I have lost…probably years… of time putting conditions on my ART PRACTICE. And my life experience if I was totally honest. Here is how it goes:
"If my new sketchbook had only arrived"
"I don't have the paper I really wanted to use"
“The light isn’t quite right”
“If I only had a proper studio”
Bla Bla Bla. You get the idea. I am working on getting over that and making my ART a Priority in my life. ART IS a Priority in my life. I think we do this with lots of things we love in our life. And I also believe it is fear. Fear of not being perfect. Ya'll that ship has sailed.
I am a Believer. Big Time. And I believe that God gives each of us gifts and it is your duty to grow and nurture those gifts. Share your gifts with the world. There is no wrong way to do this. Each of us has our own vision for what sharing ourselves looks and feels like.
What I do know is…no matter who you are, you owe it to you rself to Prioritize your Gifts and what brings you Joy. Then you share that Joy and you will be making the World Happy! This is how I think this life works in my life:
ME + MY GIFTS + I PAINT AND SHARE MY WORK + I TEACH PEOPLE TO PAINT = PEOPLE SMILE AT MY PAINTINGS = PEOPLE REALIZE THEY ARE THE ARTIST THEY ALWAYS WANTED TO BE.
=
THE WORLD IS A HAPPIER PLACE!!! (I am talking BIG Joy here)
Simple Math. Who knew?
What I am trying to tell you all is; no matter what your gifts are, stop procrastinating. Stop putting conditions on everything. You are wasting time doing things that don’t bring you JOY, that don’t bring the world joy because you are afraid to start. Make those things without worry about what anyone else will think. Without fear of being accepted or being perfect. Without comparison. Bring your special version of JOY to you and the world. Please!
The light may never be perfect, You may not have your favorite subject right in front of you and that new sketchbook might in lost in shipping and, God forbid there is laundry in the basket. JUST CREATE.
You are shining light. WE are SHINING LIGHTS. God made you that way. Share your love and heart and soul and gifts with the rest of the world. We Need You. I can’t wait to see what you do!
Xoxo,
Julie
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