I have been an artist for much of my life, I can tell you with my whole heart that I value my creativity far more than being an artist. I would rather call myself imaginative and creative. A maker in the moment.
Creativity for me is my life. It comes from the doing, the action piece of the idea world. Being comfortable with the wild and unpredictable place of the imagination. It is the way I live my life. You will see it in how I nurture my family & friends, care for my animals, plant my garden, cook my food, paint my walls, speak and write my words. The blessing inside this notion of creativity is if you are living life you are already being creative, you are already an artist of your own making.
More important for all of us is to realize adopting the title as artist means something. In the wisdom of it all, I feel I first must have earned the right. I must have come down the long and sometimes bumpy road of creativity, learning to express myself from the core. For most desiring a creative life it requires you to get on a path toward self expression. This path is not about reaching for a glass filled with a mind numbing beverage to smooth the process or engage in pursuits that steal from the soul and thicken the wall between your voice and the world. In the end, the soul will always know the difference. Instead, it takes sheer courage to be creative, to engage deeply in the creative process and birth something new in the world. And then, to openly share it with others. Attempts to short cut the steps of accessing your own voice will cut you off from the truth you are seeking.
Famous painters have spent years learning to paint the flower that is their own. A quick stroke of the brush that hints at the beauty and fragile nature of a petal. The painter has studied the petal with depth and concern for the mystery of what is seen with an artists trained eye. The artist working through the color mixing, seeing it, emoting it, processing it, to make it all sing in perfection. This is what it means to be creative. To feel your subject with your own soul, to have a love affair with it and then communicate it to the bigger world. Being an artist is not an overnight process, it is a lifetime process of learning and growing into yourself and being able to communicate beauty in your own voice.
