Gandhi

Gandhi’s Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing the World

“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problem.” - Mahatma Gandhi

1. Change yourself.
2. You are in control.
3. Forgive and let it go.
4. Without action you aren’t going anywhere.
5. Take care of this moment.
6. Everyone is human.
7. Persist.
8. See the good in people and help them.
9. Be congruent, be authentic, be your true self.
10. Continue to grow and evolve.

Integrity and Self-love

Today is Christmas. I am reminded of the beauty all around me. It all inspires my life. It is all infused in my work, like a thread that keeps me alive. I am reminded to admire, to trust and to notice. It's all there, right now, right here.

I have a theory that all that is really important are two things:

integrity and self-love

That's all that's important. I seek to dedicate my life to the understanding of these two things. That's all I want. I allow the rest to dissolve. I release myself from the dream that is life, the dream that is history, the dreams that were passed on to me, shared with me, molded into my consciousness. I seek to be a master of my dream, a master of my life, a master of my heart. For this I believe is what will change the world. More people awakening to the power of their lives, to the power that is them, to the power of themselves, to the power of life, inside their minds.

I believe in love and happiness and magic. It is all around us. This is a very special day. I'm glad I'm a part of it.

“All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them. My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.”
- Buddha

Follow Your Passions

You might fall in the gutter and die from some things, but it won't be because you followed your passions.

Your heart does not lie. Your body does not lie. The years go by so fast... trust that you have the right ingredients, for a reason.

Follow your passions.

"Leap and the net will appear." --Julia Cameron

What do you notice?

It's December in Charleston. The most unusual plants are growing from the sidewalk. I notice. I am reminded to step back and observe.

Hey Ladybug

I saw a ladybug walking through Charleston. I just wanted to say, "Hey Ladybug!"

Courage

I am reminded to breathe in, and to breathe out.

I am reminded to focus on the daily work, and to never give up.

Whatever happens, this is what I say to myself: Do not ever give up. Always hold in your heart and in your soul and in your body the seed of hope and know that you have in any given moment the will and the power, and yes, the courage, to rise.

Rise. It’s a matter of choice. It’s one thing to know the way, but it’s an entirely other thing to live it.

To live it, takes courage.

Take a step back and absorb

Take a step back and absorb. It is the week before Christmas. I am observing my life, reflecting on the past year. Just observing. Just reflecting. Absorbing.

Take a step and absorb. Just watch. This is a healthy practice. Let the emotions pass, let the storm pass, let the rush pass... It is growth and life and you have arrived here, for a reason.

Take a step back. Breath. Practice breathing.

Watch yourself. What do you notice? What do you feel? What do you need?

Keep it simple.

Today

Today

Today I saw a rainbow, in the midst of what I don’t know. It reminded me of the one thing I do know. I am ok.

Today I saw a flock of blackbirds flying through the gray sky. They reminded me of everything I want, freedom and humility, everything that I am now, ready and present.

Today I put a jade necklace around my neck. It reminded me of what I finally am, sure and grounded, manifested by the calm in my heart.

The rainbow was mercy, the birds, audacity, the jade necklace, peace, all good omens to the future. They spoke to me. Let me know I am ok. Let me know I am just where I need to be.

Today I thought, "Sometimes it seems there is no reward for your effort. That the struggle is endless, the well of darkness deep, the broken heart remains broken, buried beneath the years, longing and your unrealized self. You’d rather disappear than deal with this recognition. You’d rather run, run straight to another illusion that will only leave you with the same debt, the same reckless fog, the same empty dream. You don’t want to be reminded of what was lost, what never was, and what still is not”

The rainbow reminds me to trust, to simply trust, that what was lost, remains lost, only to lead me to where I am now, living for an uncommon dream.

Today, I am reminded that I don’t believe in happy endings. I never did. I don’t think its that easy. The dissatisfaction is divine, like the jade around my neck, a reminder to keep going, one foot after the next, the warrior’s life is the only path of true exhilaration. Anything else would be death at this point. Jade never dies. It is resilient. It is strong and indestructible, the gold of my soul. It is the light that I see as the rainbow reminds me of what I seek, as the blackbirds take me home, the jade is who I am.

Today, I have simplicity, a home in my heart.

To take wherever I go.

Love is the Greatest

1 Corinthians 13

Love Is the Greatest

¹ If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. ³ If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;^[a] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

⁸ Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages^[b] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! ⁹ Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! ¹⁰ But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. ¹² Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.^[c] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

¹³ Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Love is the Funeral Pyre

Love is
The funeral pyre
Where I have laid my living body.

All the false notions of myself
That once caused fear, pain,

Have turned to ash
As I neared God.

What has risen
From the tangled web of thought and sinew

Now shines with jubilation
Through the eyes of angels

And screams from the guts of
Infinite existence
Itself.

Love is the funeral pyre
Where the heart must lay
Its body.

--Hafiz

Thriving on beauty

Some people thrive on beauty. It's as if beauty alone is enough. Everything they touch becomes beautiful. They need it like they need air. Without it their soul grows weary and sad.

There are people who need to be inspired, who need to be awake, who need to feel the joys of the heart like a constant flow of water through the bloodstream.

Without beauty they die. They wither, they fall depleted.

It's as if it doesn't matter what the thing is they do, what unfolds during their life, what they create with their hands, as long as it's beautiful, as long as it resonates with the heart.

I need beauty. I thrive on beauty. Without it I am nothing.

Beauty is universal. It is a collective language. Everyone understands it. Matters of the heart can not be spoken in words. It's a feeling. Beauty is a feeling. To understand it, is to live like an angel.

To be without it is to die.

Create or die. Create beauty, and live fully.

Questions and Creations.

To live audaciously is to ask yourself questions and to create your universe, understanding that it's all an experiment, a process, an evolution. The point of awakening is the recognition of your power to ask, to question, to create, to move. It's all a dance, a mysterious, open and never-ending dance. You don't have to worry, you have all the time.

How do you feel about these questions? How do you feel about these creations?

Curious, excited, engaged... that is the essence of love.

Everyone has the power to question. Everyone has the power to create. There is no answer. There is nothing you are waiting for. There is a playful sense of being in the present moment. Anything else is only an illusion. It is useful to know the difference.

There is no right or wrong

There is no right or wrong. Rules don't matter. Being a "good" person makes no sense, if it's based on rules because that is only thinking about being "good", and there are no feelings involved.

Feelings are real, thinking is not. Feelings come from experiments, which we perform through trial and error. Theory, idea, experience, process, results. Repeat. There's a millions different ways, and a million different things, it never ends. And they are all valid, because they were real for you.

What is important is that you did it, you tried, you kept going.

What is important is how you feel.

There are only choices, that is life, it is what it is, it grows how it grows.

You are free to choose as you please.

How do you want to feel?

Self-satisfied. Strong. Self-reliant. Personal power from your own gut.

When you go to sleep at night watch for the pieces of you that are unresolved.

Pleasing others will only ensue guilt which is a useless emotion. What we all want, what we all long for, is for those unresolved pieces of us, to be fully realized.

It's a war, to work through the dragons of our mind, for the real bright gold.

That's the "work", that's what we all want and seek. "Doing the work" is an act of will, it's an act of courage, it's a challenge, each and every time.

You have to sneak up on it, bring out your big guns, and fight like hell.

Get the beast. Take pride in your gold. Love it for what's it worth and then sleep like baby.

The results are, through hard consistent work over time, self-realization.

Self-realization, that's what matters. Not pleasing others, not making rules, not being "good".

Self-realization. Taking down the beast in your own head, and doing your work. Every. Single. Day.

Awakening

I'm awakening and it's not going to stop. I am fortunate to be here at this time. I have opportunities everywhere, and beauty surrounds me.

And how about honesty?

That difficult thing that's hard for us all. Remember, honesty is the real challenge. It takes the most strength, the most courage, each and every time.

It's not a matter of knowing right from wrong, my God, this cripples us. There is no set rule. There is not guideline. There are no words for matters of the heart. It's not about how much you know, or have. It's not about how good you are. It's not about how much you've sold, or how much you've taken or at what cost.

Don't put me in a casket. Don't cry when I leave. Remember the legacy.

I'm considering how I'll be remembered 600 years from now. If you think about life like this it changes everything. All the small dramas. All the bullshit. Yes I said bullshit, and I'll say it again.

Don't cry over a stain on your shirt. There's much more to life.

Don't hide behind walls, no one can see you if you don't embrace your fear. Fear of the light.

I'm thinking of passion. I seem to always be thinking of passion. What really matters is how hard we've worked.

Our schools must change and evolve. We must write a new law.

600 years from now. Who will I be? What will I do now that will matter then? What small dream can I make come true, right here and right now?

I don't know.

What about curiosity? What about excitement? What about love?

Is it possible to love? Who knows what this means. I can't say I know and with that statement I am broken down to nothing. I am diminished completely. I am empty.

I must empty my cup.

To fill it.

I must be that humble.

I don't know what it means.

I am curious to know. I will begin anew with every little choice, every little breath, every little moment.

And then life goes on.

Sometimes I wonder. If the answers are really simple. Maybe I just need to drink more water. Maybe I just need to sleep more, or breath more consciously.

Maybe that's really all I ever need. Maybe that's all anyone ever needs.

We are all the same, one blood, one people, one life. We are all one.

Maybe I'll be born again as a rabbit and that'll be ok.

Nothing really matters. It doesn't matter what you do.

All that matters is how you choose: love or fear.

I think the more you can simplify, the more clear this truth becomes. The more you refine your decisions and direct your feelings. The more in power you become. The more safe.

And as far as I'm concerned that's all anyone is looking for, that's anyone wants. And that will never change. No complexity of man will make that change.

It's a choice. Every moment. Every day. Every time.

Happy and Successful

I deserve to be happy. I deserve to be successful. And so do you. Focus on what you want to see. You have a right to be who you want to be, to live the life you want to live, to love the things you want to love. You don't have to think about anything else but this. You can do it.

Setting up a lifestyle that challenges you to be honest is the best thing you can do. Eliminating anything that doesn't have to do with this goal is the best thing you can do. Choosing to focus on this goal, with all of you intent, passion and drive and is the best thing you can do.

Be the best you can be. Do the best you can do. Believe in the best. Own it. You deserve this lifetime. How are you going to spend it? This is your time now. Go boldly.

Teach Our Children

“Without a talent nurtured and perfected, the finest instrument would stand silent.”
- U

There is nothing more sad than wasted talent. Artists have intense souls. When not used it can be devastatingly sad. You know it if you've got it in you. But often times you haven't had the opportunity.

If I ruled the world everyone would have paintbrushes and books.

Well, I don't rule the world. But I do rule my world. And I have a lot of paintbrushes and a lot of books.

If I could teach the world anything, it would be to find yourself in your imagination. Rather than teaching our children the pressures of success, how about teaching them the joys of our imagination?

It's a sensitive subject. As we humans, are sensitive creatures. One thing someone says to us when we are young can shape our entire lives. Perhaps though, the human spirit has a way of working things out. Somehow, the green leaves find the sun. Somehow, the plant grows tall. Somehow, the flower blossoms.

Teach our children to play, to frolic and to imagine. Teach them to be strong, disciplined and brave.

Teach them to create and to grow toward the light.

I've got paintbrushes, and I've got books. Martin Luther King, Jr, one of my heroes, said, "We must wage peace with the same intention of those who wage war." I wage peace with paintbrushes and books. I have plenty. I use them. I hope the world follows my lead.

Teach our children to paint. Teach our children to read. Teach our children to be aware of their beauty. We must set the bar high. There is too much at stake. We can not risk loosing such beauty.

I can't make cute art

I can't make cute art. Sometimes I go through phases where I tell myself to make things to sell. Do this or that because it'll be nice and marketable, it's a good lucrative idea. I can't do it. I've realized I just have to keep going with what I'm going to do. Keep going with what feels right to me. Keep going with what I'm on to. I believe that is what will carry me to my highest creative vision. That is what is in my best interest. And that is what I must do.

I believe that what is in the best interest of my higher self, is in the best interest of all.

As an artist, I don't like it when people say, "you should do.... (fill in the blank with what they think is cute)". I look at them and say, "that's a great idea...." In my head I'm thinking, "I don't foresee myself ever doing that." Then I would consider it, and try my best to fit into a mold. I'll think I shoud, I could....

I can't do it. I can't make cute art. I can only do what I'm here to do. I can only do what I'm on to. I can only do what is personal.

I am interested in the inner workings of the soul. I am interested in covering new grounds as to what human beings can potentially do. I am interested in innovation.

I am interested in self-discovery. I am interested in healing and progress and humanity. I am interested in trust and truth and compassion. I am interested in love and grace and freedom. I understand that it's all very simple. I understand that it is a matter of us all doing it the best we can with the what we have, right now. I understand that we are all capable. I am here to provide space, for myself and for others.

You're Ready Now

You're ready now. So often we think that we need more training, more experience, when I get the skills, or the nice paint or the private loft studio with huge windows pouring in natural light... then I'll be ready, then I'll make my masterpiece and my life will change.

Nope. Doesn't work like that. You are ready right now in this minute, and you are the best artist that you'll ever be. That's the truth. The best thing any artist can do is to awaken to the moment they are in, to do the best they can with their means, to work consistently and to open themselves to the possibilities of discovery.

I don't believe in the future. I don't believe in waiting for one thing to end and another to begin. I don't believe in excuses. I don't buy them. You can't entertain me with why you didn't, why you can't, and why you're not doing it now.

The answer is simple: you are as good as you're ever going to be in this moment right now. It's not about waiting to be "better". It's not about the golden moment that lies ahead. It's about digging deep. It's about finding what you already know. It's about making big mistakes so you can discover the one thing that is actually yours.

The fancy tools are just fancy tools. There's more implications that come with them. Perhaps there's more pressure and perhaps that's precisely the thing that gets in the way from making true art.

Remember: It's always going to be about awakening to the moment you are in with what you have right here and right now. It's about discovering yourself. It's about a journey that is personal. It's about freedom, freedom from attachment, to your job, your family, your friends, your past, your expectations, your anxieties, freedom from it all, all of it. Trust me. It's about losing yourself to something greater, something we can't explain, and thank God we can't. The boredom that would come from explaining is more than I can mention. Explaining is too easy. Anyone can explain themselves. I want to exalt in something uncommon, something that's never been done before, something that's mine. I want to feel alive. I want to live as deep as I can in the most authentic questions, and then I want to go deeper, further, and messier. Then I will feel like maybe I'm tapping into why I'm here. Anything less would not be a life worth living.

I want to ride the waves of passion. I want to be at the grip of discipline. I want to feel like I'm transcending deep into the raw moment of genius.

As Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart said, "Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius." He's got it. That's it. That's as simple, honest and truthful as I've ever come in my understanding. I believe it. And you can love, right here and right now.

Stop making excuses. Stop living in something that doesn't exist. It's an illusion. This notion of "a better day". This feeling that "if and when" I'm going to ride the waves of my true calling. No. You're not. You won't ever ride any wave until you loosen your grip on expectation and feel what it is you are right now. Pick up your tools, as rusty as they may be, and make something. Do it will all of your heart. Do not hesitate, and do not settle for anything less, ever. Do it with all of your heart and then do it again. Over and over and over until the momentum carries you to something great. I think only then will you understand what it means to be yourself, to be alive and to live your calling.

You're ready now.

Don't ever admit to anxiety

Admitting to anxiety is like saying, "I'm going to fail and I know it!" Don't do it. Just don't.

Maybe you're scared. Act like you've got it under control. You know what you're doing. You're going to nail it. Make out like you only have one option: success.

Ditch anxiety, most importantly, don't waste your time talking about it. Do something else. Watch a movie, read a book, walk in the park, go to the bar. So what you're being lazy, so what you're having fun, so want your indulging in the power of your soul. Do it and enjoy it and ditch the rest.

Then when it's time, pull the trigger. Mean it, feel it, live the dream of you're own self in action. You deserve it.

Don't give in to the anxious whine, the delusional pout, the fearful story. Get over it. :)

Make something happen. Like it's your only option. Like you knew it all along.

Be clear with what you want

Visualize the future, to the detail. Can you picture what you want? Can you see it? Feel it? Know it? What are you wearing? How do you behave? Who do you interact with?

Most importantly, who do you say thank you to?

Count your blessings. If you choose to build a frame of mind that creates, accepts and processes miracles they will come to you. It's the mental constructs that are important. The content that you attract and how it will be processed will be determined by your current state of mind. How do you see the world?

Through the eyes of old pain?

Through the eyes of forgiveness?

Through the eyes of awareness?

Focus your vision. Clarify want you want. Get specific. Don't confuse the universe. The clearer you are with what you want, the more gracefully it will come to you. Hold the energy of what you want and let go of the rest. Know the difference between what is real and what are fancy tales, or terrible tales, your mind is spinning.

Someone recently told me after I said, "I'm confused", that "You shouldn't be. You should always make things as simple as you can."

That's the point. The universe wants to give you what you want. It's up to you to do your part. It's up to you to speak the language of the universe. Be very clear with your intention. Never underestimate this power. Imagine what you want before it happens. Say thank you before it comes. Always, count your blessings. Remember your lucky stars.

Are you willing?

How willing are you to get over your personal dramas?

This is a great question to ask yourself routinely. Are you willing to accept what is going on, what is true, and to see a greater awareness? This may mean you must see things about yourself and your life that you don't want to admit. Are you willing?

Take your hands away from your ears and hear. Take the blindfold off your eyes and see. Start walking your own path at your own pace and for the love of God quit comparing yourself, it's not doing any good. Get up and live.

Miracle or grievance? Mistake or blessing? Problem or solution? Rise or suffer? It's up to you. At any given point.

It's true we all have personal dramas. The most enlightened souls have been through it. The questions are not, are you bad, how screwed up are you, how messed up has your life been, how many problems do you have. The question is: are you willing to rise? The questions are not how wrong people were to you, how many chances you didn't have, how much time you've lost, how much of your memory has been jaded by things you don't want to admit, you can barely stand, you simply want to run from. We have it. We've all been there. Our stories are different, but in one way or another we all have reasons to cry, to run, to hide. Strength doesn't just come, it's earned. It always is.

How strong will you be today? Will you rise? Will you make something out of your time? What do you have to do to get over yourself, yes I said, get over yourself. I know it hurt, but it's as simple as that. Get. Over. Yourself.

We all have/have had personal dramas. It's not a matter of how much you've been through, how sorry we are for you, how much it sucked. It sucked for a lot of people, real bad.

It's a matter of your willingness to get through it and be something more, something powerful.

The questions are: Are you willing to get over it? Are you willing to focus on something better? Something that serves you for a change? Something that's aligned with your core interests? How willing are you to step up and feel alive and real, even if it means drastically changing your life and being someone completely new.

Do it. It's worth it.

What is great art?

Great art consists of 3 things:

1. You own your process. You have clear intention. You know what you want.
2. You do it a lot, then you do it more. You don't give up. You push through all challenges.
3. You put it on the line. You seek an audience. You get it out.

These are the 3 things that make up great art. If you have skill, wonderful, you'll do all of the above more clearly and with strength. If you have time, lovely, you really have no excuse. If you have resources, the more the better, you are well on your way. But if you don't have the right combination of the 3 things above, you will not make great art, and that's the bottom line.

Steve Jobs said, "Real artists ship". He's right. Real artists ship. What he means is, real artists know that connecting with an audience, building relationships, and taking the risk to getting your work into the world is what will support what you do, give you longevity, and essentially make you into a real artist. You need feedback, you need criticism, you need to know your on the right track, or not. How are you going to do that if you don't put your work out on the line? Simply, you're not. Shipping your art is how you know your doing something right. It's just as much of a skill as making it. It will make you stronger, bigger and more focused.

Owning your process is being in control of what you are doing. Are you a lost puppy at the easel? Or are you a brave individual ready to figure something out? It's hard for everyone. We all go through the struggle. We all have the same issues, constraints and uncertainties. The only difference between the ones who make it and the ones who don't, is your willingness to keep going, NO. MATTER. WHAT.

And you've got to do it a lot, and then do it some more, and when you're totally exhausted, and there will be plenty of times when you will be, you keep going. Period. You work hard.

These are the 3 things that make up great art. Look at artists throughout history. Look at the ones who inspire you. Look around you at the artists who are thriving. They have these 3 things. And they know they do. They are not playing around. They are on a mission. They have faith in their calling. And they make every sacrifice for it. Whether they feel like it or not.

The reward: deep inner peace, exhilaration, soul-satisfaction.

What are you here to do?

So often we’ve been taught to settle, to relinquish our power and fit into a mold. So often we’ve been taught to pursue our goals as creative artists when we have the luxury of time later in life, when we’ve done the “important” work we’re “supposed” to do.

I question that model. I am not afraid to step out into the unknown and speak from my core, create from my gut, and follow my heart.

My work explores this intent. It explores the inner workings of my own soul, my own ideas and my own dreams. It explores who I really am, what I really want, and what my ideas of happiness are.

In my doing so, I hope to encourage others to do the same. I can’t tell you it’s easy, safe or clear. That’s not what I’m here to do. I am here to rise, manifest and shape something unique to my vision. I accept the challenge, the struggle and the pain, for I have faith in my calling.

I would rather live a life of honesty and vulnerability than settle for anything less.

What is Art?

I don’t believe in labels or in limiting yourself in any regard. Genius flourishes in a free and safe environment. It is my goal to create a space where natural gifts emerge. I also believe that art is work. It doesn’t just happen nor should you ever wait for inspiration to strike. You work whether you feel like it or not because you have faith in your calling. If you’re lucky, inspiration comes, usually in the heat of the moment. The more you are willing to begin, to show up and work, the more prepared you are for the magic to unfold. Consistent disciplined work is the best ingredient for creativity. In my process I go with an impulse, I follow what strikes me. It can be anything. I usually have a vague idea, a feeling, a sense that is a point of departure for the work to begin. Often times, I realize what the piece is about after I’ve made it. Making art for me is about stepping into my emotion and intuition, processing my reality, and transforming my space. I believe great art is the mastery of intention and feeling.

Herself

This is a beautiful except from Wallace Stevens poem, "Sunday Morning". It resonated with me and I wanted to share. We are so full of a range of feeling, and I encourage you to reach inside this reservoir, both personal and universal, and explore.

“Divinity must live within herself:
Passions of rain, or moods in falling snow;
Grievings in loneliness, or unsubdued
Elations when the forest blooms; gusty
Emotions on wet roads on autumn nights;
All pleasures and all pains, remembering
The bough of summer and the winter branch.
These are the measure destined for her soul.”

--from Wallace Stevens, “Sunday Morning”

One step at a time

One step at a time. I think there's something to be said for gentleness. There's something to be said for simply enjoying the steps you are taking. It's better to relax into the process than worry too much about what you're doing. It's better to let yourself do what it is in front of you to do, to take steps, one small thing at a time.

I grew up feeling that I was never good enough. I know what's it's like to be burned out, to feel you have to push yourself to sheer exhaustion for things to be ok. Not true. Actually the opposite of that is true.

Being gentle on the self is the most productive and beneficial state of mind you can have. Knowing that it's a long journey, you're getting there, you're on the right track, one small step at a time. It's the daily progression that makes the world go round, and it's never too soon to jump on the train of self-awareness.

I think the smaller steps you take the better. The more you like the steps the better. The more accustomed you get to framing everything you do with a self-loving, self-serving state of mind, the happier you are, and that is, after all, what life is all about. It's ok if you're just waking up to this idea. Right now is the perfect time. Trust your process and most importantly trust yourself.

Be gentle on the self. Take small steps. Enjoy the work.

What the world needs

What the world needs is: Artists, creators, innovators, people who are comfortable with asking questions, real questions, real hard questions. People who are brave enough to sit with these questions once they’ve taken the risk to ask them, for as long as it takes to find concrete results, resolutions and progress. People brave enough to go deep inside and challenge themselves to find truth. People brave enough to sit through the pain, darkness and fear to discover something real and worth living for. People brave enough to work for what matters, to seek what matters, to love what matters, unconditionally. People who feel deeply, love deeply and give the world their best. The world needs brave souls. The world needs winners. The world needs people with open hearts.

What makes great art?

Intention and feeling make great art. It's not what you have to say. It's not your skill or experience level. It's intention and feeling. It's knowing and surrendering. It's connection to yourself, your mark and the moment. That's it. That's what makes great art.

The geniuses of our time all know this. They use the secrets of magic, the timeless principles of energy and physics, the laws of the universe that all begin with one thought.

I know one may think that it's all about what you have to say, content is relevant, but it's only a point of departure for what makes one transcend. The point is transcendence, spiritual power. That is the purpose of art, to rise, to overcome, to synthesize something completely new, something that changes you, something that moves you into a better version of who you are.

It's a matter of resolution. It's transcendence of the great polarity of opposites, the dialectical issues, the dramas that arise in all of us. That is great art.

Intention. Feeling. You know it or you don't. Like all truth, it's simple.

You can't go back.

I think when you begin to see truth, even a glimpse you can't go back. Once you create with your intention, and you are aware of your process, you are moving forward and there is no going back. Once you see more, once you know, once you feel, you must only progress, you can not go back. This is scary. You are in flux. You don't know how to act, what to do, who to talk to.

You can't go back.

Change is not easy. Severe change is not easy. Fast, quick, abrupt, rapid forward moving change is not easy. That's one thing I've learned. But you've got to go with it. It's in your best interest.

It might seem like a time of crisis, but it will pass.

There are things you think you want. There are things you wish for. There are things you think you want and need and love. It's all illusion. If it doesn't set you free, it's not the truth. If it doesn't hit you in the gut and make you feel, it's not the truth. The truth comes unexpectedly, it always does.

Relax and know, that once again, you were foolish. Once again you predicted your future. Once again you tried something that did not work. Because why? It's not the truth.

What is the truth? And how do you know it? What makes you feel? What is in your gut?

Is it possible to transcend? What is this like? What does it mean to transform? What does it mean to be real?

Are we addicted to illusion? That's a good question. That's a real good question.

Are we addicted to avoiding the truth? Running?

What does it mean to be honest? What does it really mean?

Are we capable of healing ourselves? And connecting to the source?

Of course we are. The question: Are we brave enough to accept humility?

If you do one thing right in this lifetime, love yourself. And forget the rest.

If you do one thing right in this lifetime love yourself, and forget the rest. That makes sense to me. I have this feeling, that that's really what it's all about. That's the heart of it all. To know yourself, is to love yourself, and to love yourself, is to love the whole world. That is your only responsibility. That is all that matters.

When you love yourself, something happens in the unconscious collective. You provide space for others to do the same, without ever realizing it, without ever trying. You give permission for others to awaken, to shine, to reach their full potential. You encourage, just by sheer magic force of you doing it. You lift the threshold, with the intent to heal. Nothing will go wrong in this frame of mind. There will be balance like never before.

And in realizing the balance, one realizes that there really is no balance to life. There is a strange evolution. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it sings, sometimes it glows, sometimes it's dim and dark, sometimes it's soaring.

I think the secret to being happy is realizing that there is no balance. There is never anything that you "should" be doing. This limits the adventurous spirit, and if you ask me, it limits the possibilities.

Saying you "should" do anything is implying that you're not doing something now. It's saying you need fixing, it's a refusal to see what you already have, to see the abundance at your footsteps, to see the magic of your gifts, right here within you.

Everything is right now. You are never in a place to say "I should" to anything, ever. Anytime you start saying "should", take note. What's going on? What are you feeling? What are you reaching for? It's better to know what it is you want, the inner mystery of your soul's calling, the stirring of your heart, the child that is always hungry for release, the creature that is wild and young and free.

I don't believe in growing up, and I don't believe that you "should" do anything. I believe your only obligation is to know who you are. In doing so, you will rise above the levels of deep unconsciousness and illuminate the world at just the right place, at just the right time.

Your heart will sing. It is the only way for you to serve the world. If your heart is not alive, you can't make any changes, you can't help anyone, you can't really make progress. You will be forcing yourself, living someone elses life, someone elses dreams, someone elses legacy. And there is no glory there. None that I can see.

What does it mean to love yourself?

Who are you?

What do you like?

What will make you happy?

Everyone has different answers to these questions, as they should. Thank God they do. If they didn't what would this world be? Machines? Dismal circuitry? Drones, cogs, lifeless human flesh is the saddest thing I can think of.

Awaken. Inspiration awaits. It always does.

Don't talk about magic

Don't talk about magic. Just feel and know. Remember that it's real. Remember that there is more to life than meets the eye. Remember shooting stars and light on water and all that's right about a smile.

Remember that you'll always have what you need if you believe it. Remember that it'll come to you.

If you believe that it will come, then it will. It always does. And it always comes at just the right time. That is the way of magic.

It will always bring you what you need, and you won't want anything else in the world.

But you can't talk about it, or it doesn't work.

You have to take chances and act on your gut instincts. You have to rise up and greet the stars. You have to show up and believe that you will be surrounded by insight and the gifts of wonder.

There is magic all around, waiting to be revealed and experienced. This is one thing that the universe has in abundance. This is one thing that we always have access to. However mundane your task may seem, there is magic.

It is meant to be absorbed, like aromas. It is meant to be felt, like drumbeats. It is meant to take you higher and carry you on for as long as you will allow.

There's no right or wrong. There's no tomorrow or yesterday. There is a kind of play, in which one must always trust, that there is always enough, and always a time to jump into the story. And it is exactly the right time for you, exactly where you need to be, exactly where you will flourish.

We don't grow old in a magical place. We don't answer to anyone. We don't expect anything.

We play. We dance. We feel.

We breathe in crisp air. Turning circles. Making love. Feeling alive. Like children, we are.

There is magic everywhere. No need to speak a word about it. Catch the wind. Jump into the story. Greet the stars, with arms outstretched.

When the end is actually the beginning

Sometimes you feel like you're finished. Then all of the sudden, some new bit of information comes your way and you realize that you're just getting started. My God, forgive yourself. You've never had the proper chance until now.

Sometimes I wonder what's it's like to be totally locked away and not able to associate with the outside world. Would it be miserable? Would you be able to somehow internally clear things so you may bravely start anew.

I'm wondering about a lot of things. Love for one. I've realized that what is really is important is not the search for love, to seek it, but to become aware of the barriers you've built from letting love in. I know I have walls. Sometimes they seem impenetrable. Sometimes I wonder if they'll ever get knocked done. It's times like this that I decide to look inward and feel. When I feel I know the answers. They are abundantly clear. There is no question, no doubt, no hesitation.

Change is a very good thing. It means growth. It means recognition. It means a chance. Thank God for change and thank God for growth.

Growth hurts, sometimes you need to hurt. Sometimes you need to suffer. Sometimes it's this suffering that makes you who you really want to be. I wouldn't change a minute of it.

I ask myself, why does it feel like the end? And what am I beginning? I take time to reflect and the confusion passes. It is replaced by clear guidance. I am sure of what I see and feel.

Now just time, sweet time will reveal.

Go Boldly

This is the book that changed the world. If you are crazy enough to believe that you can change the world, then you can. Do not hesitate. You only get one life. Whatever else there is, I assure you is nothing like this one now. I guarantee it. If that’s not enough to make you get up and realize what you are worth, I’m not sure what is.

When you think that all is lost, look around you and be brave. What is lost is an opportunity to find what suites you more than anything else could. What you lost is a chance to reach inside and find what you really want. What is lost is not lost, it is found and that will never change, not now and not for all for time.

Do not hesitate.

Go boldly. For boldness is perfection. No matter how afraid you may think you are boldness is perfection, there is no right or wrong. No one can do it but yourself. No one knows the answers but yourself. No one has the magic like you’ve got it and that’s the truth, stop looking at labels. They limit you. Go where you feel drawn to go. Go where you feel powerful. Go where you rule your world, where you are most alive. Go and do not hesitate.

There is always an opportunity no matter what you’ve believed, no matter what you feel. The loss, the perceived loss, passes, no matter what you think. That is the truth.

If you’ve ever wondered, what happens if I make it? What happens if the desolated road passes. I am here to tell you it does. I am here to tell you it’s never hopeless, if you have the seeds for brilliance you can make them grow no matter the circumstance or perceived loss.

You must trust, that what was lost will come back to you in wondrous ways, in some other form, that it ascends.

Do not hesitate anymore. I am tired of hearing about pain. I am tired of hearing about loss. I am tired of not going forward. I am tired of people crying. I am tired of the pain. I leave it now. This is a choice I make, and I do not look back. Once you change you can never go back and thank God. Thank God.

Ascendancy is simple. As is the truth. Go boldly and do not hesitate.

Create what you must. Do it and dream big. Do it and believe. Do it and live your truth. Live your reality. My God I cannot look back. Why would I ever want to?

There is no life like this one. I choose to live it fully.

Boldly, you must go. Without hesitation.

The moth flies around me. I feel the power of change. I embrace it.

Ascendancy, the moth in the night

A moth landed on my table. I am thinking of ascendency. What is freedom after all?

The moth is a messenger. I wonder what the message is?

The point is that it’s not hard. Ascension is grace. Can I say something brilliant?

To rise, to move up, through the air.

What exactly do I mean?

Woman and moth.

You can’t force great art. You can’t force spiritual ascension. You can’t force your flight.

You just do it.

That’s what I mean.

And what about the pain? The suffering? The seemingly endless plight? Does she get through it and ascend? I see, but I can’t say, I only become.

Silence is the mastery of sound. As is stillness, the mastery of truth. Freedom is simple, as is everything. I am not here to contort and delay. I am here to become. And that is what I know. Do not hesitate. No need.

Trust your own process, for that is what brings you home, that is what brings you here, that is what knows who you are.

You will find yourself. You have found yourself. I was told, get through the block and you will find

yourself. This is true. Focus on this. This is true.

"From the very beginning, art meant something very important to the people who made it. It was a correspondence of the emotions to what you saw; it wasn't knowledge. You were being at one with something eternal; something outside of yourself. And no matter how many fake things have been brought in to suit other conditions... That is still true." -Milton Resnick

Dealing with confusion, doubt and fear

What do you do when you are impeccably confused? When you feel the world is crashing down on you and you're not sure if you can take another step? When you are overwhelmed with options, decisions and people... When it seems there will never be a day of pure solace, for yourself, to breathe and be who you are.

This is how I feel today. And I'm asking myself questions: What do you do with confusion, doubt and fear? What do you do about the walls you have that keep you from love? What do you do when it seems like the end?

I feel this way today, so I revisited Danielle Laporte's inspirational piece, "Decide to Rise".

I realize I have two options: rise or stay stuck.

What's it going to be?

I realize that it's points like this where life tests you, to see what you're really made of, to see who you really are, to challenge your true substance.

There comes a very important point in everyone's life, where they realize time is moving fast, the brilliant now has arrived, and it is, time to rise.

They realize that nothing is stopping them but their own thought, that it is a fear of the thought of the thing that is actually greater than the thing itself.

One must rise.

Experiments and results. Use whatever it is you are going through to better understand yourself, your work and your truth.

I feel I am at that crossroads now. Do I use the strands of my broken heart to create something powerful? Or do I hide behind excuses and doubt? There are two roads. I believe my answer lies through a mighty plunge into the unknown, a blind leap of faith through the darkness, a renegade of action when it seems all is lost.

What are your challenges you are faced with?

What are your answers? How do you respond?

What do you feel?

How do you resolve life's most challenging tests?

What do you do when it seems you are at the end?

Sometimes the greatest battles, lessons, struggles, also have within them our greatest lessons, truths and successes.

I choose to believe this today. I chose to believe it is the beginning of far greater things. Only I can imagine, create with intention and work to the finish line.

Decide to rise in the words of Danielle Laporte. I think she's got the right idea.

It only "seems" scary

The first steps "seem" the scariest. Key word here is "seem". Seem means appearance, appearance means in actuality that's not really what it is. It seems so scary. Oh my god can I do this? Can I really make a bold step forward?

Yes you can. It only seems scary.

No one's looking at you.

No one's laughing at you.

No one's talking about you.

First of all, it's not your business what other people think. Second of all, they're not thinking about you, they're too worried about their own lives and what other people are thinking about them. Trust me.

So..... take those first steps. Now.

Be bold.

So what if you screw up? I guarantee you'll learn more screwing up on big bold moves that oyu make from within, than you would if you'd never tried. Guarantee.

First of all, you'll be a hell of a lot stronger no matter if you succeed or not because you tried. You did something because of an inner impulse. You're building yourself up.

Second of all, you'll have more guts, stamina and wisdom next time to actually do it right. You're bound to succeed.

Fearless Move = Strength = Your Power = Your Best = Why You're Here

And it's ok. You have permission to be as awesome as you are. It only "seems" scary. The thought of the thing is scarier than the thing itself. Reality is nothing to fear. Reality's not laughing at you. Reality wants to give you what you want so bad I can't even mention it. And that's the truth. The only way to know for yourself this truth is to trust it, to find your own process, to go for it, to take those first steps. I promise you'll be glad you did. You might even get into it. You might even rock so hard you can't imagine life any other way. You deserve to be that hot. I believe that if more people woke up to this reality we'd have a lot more fun, make more progress as a collective whole, create what we're really passionate about and we might even fall in love with ourselves, our lives and each other.

Sounds like a win-win for everyone.

It only "seems" scary. "Seem" is an appearance. It's not that scary.

It's easy. It's fun. It's simple.

Make the first steps. I encourage you.

Face your dreams.

Face your dreams.

What if your slate was wiped clean right here and right now and you were free to do and become whatever your heart desired? What would be the first mark you would make on the new clean slate?

What would you become?

What lies underneath the blocks?

Why are you doing this work? To feel what? To be what?

You are ok to ask the questions. You are ok to not to know. You are allowed to expand through uncertainty and to explore.

You are allowed to ask the question. To sit with it. To not know.

That perhaps could be the most important thing you do in your lifetime. And that first mark, the most profound step. It is true, it is also the scariest.

What if you were free to face your dreams? What if the pain went away? Then what?

Take a minute to reflect, to dream, to ask the question.

Who are you? What do you want? What will make you happy?

Your slate is clean.

It is all energy

"Everything is energy and that's all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics."
∼ Albert Einstein

In the words of Steve Jobs...

His finest words
"Your time on this earth is limited, don’t live someone else’s life, live by your vision."

On beginner's mind
"Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

"You are already naked."

On following your heart
"If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it."

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your hear and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

On death
"If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? …whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose."

"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true."

"Almost everything- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected."

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."

"We don't get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life.
Life is brief, and then you die, you know?
And we've all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good.
It better be worth it."

"Your time on this earth is limited, don’t live someone else’s life, live by your vision."

On life
"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

On business
"Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?"

"I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance."

"Things don't have to change the world to be important."

On action
"I want to put a ding in the universe."

"Real artists ship."

On simplicity
"That's been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains."

All quotes by Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

Diversify and Limit

Diversify your talents. Get to know everything. Do as much as you possibly can to know as much as you possibly can about everything. Play the guitar, play the saxophone, play the piano, the hand drums. If you can pick it up and do it, do it. If you have pencil and paper, write something, whatever comes up. Practice yoga, all kinds and meditate. Sing, everywhere and with anyone. Do as much as you can to expand, evolve and nurture your spirit.

And limit yourself, to one thing and be brave enough to be a master. As you diversify your talents, you will nourish your creative spirit and prepare yourself for your soul's true calling. You'll get an idea while playing a tune on the banjo, you'll see things from a new light while running in the park, your body will be postured and aligned, ready for action at your work while stretching in yoga. The benefits of daily meditation will change your life, so that you will become the best at what you do the best, what comes most naturally, what your soul needs, who you are at your core, your true self.

It is a mature artist that has considered many different materials, ideas, ways of expressing a vision, disciplines and arrived at a conscious decision to commit to your own personal vision. It takes time and work. There's no easy way to get to this point. You have to experiment and get through all the frustrations, doubts and fears just like everyone. Perseverance makes the master. Good disciplined work makes the star. If you know what you're doing, if you've decided on your scope, if you've committed to your vision, if you've limited your materials, when the great moment comes, which it will if you don't give up, you will be ready and strong. You won't flounder.

I feel very strongly about being a well rounded individual. I feel very strongly about being the master of one thing that is very personal to you. I feel very strongly that if you do this, you will attract a niche audience that needs what you have to offer. You will thrive.

Diversify and limit. Get to know who you are. Follow every impulse. There does not serve you to say, "I can't play a guitar, I'm a painter not a musician." That is limiting and will constrict you from your true potential. Figuring out how to play a song on the guitar will free space in your mind to find new ways of understanding, it will build new connections, create new memories, establish new sensations and could very well be the catalyst to powerful ideas crucial to your work. The muscle memory that you build, the sensory stimulation that awakens you and the imaginative nature of doing something that is entirely new to you will enhance the possibility of you doing your life's great work better. And that's the goal. That is always the goal.

By narrowing your focus, scope and materials, you're acknowledging to your being, that you're ready to take this work seriously. You've tried everything, you've studied what you could and now you're ready to make bold steps forward. Now your ready to create a movement, a niche, a new way of understanding, and that is priceless. That is exactly what this world needs most. You are invaluable not only to your field but to your audience. You will establish vital connections that will take you further. You might even discover something completely new that changes the world for the better. It's possible to reach these kinds of goals in this lifetime.

I am going to give this idea my best effort. Diversify and limit. Be a complete person, able to hold discussions with anyone, able to feel deeply and expand the spirit, able to perceive the world from any angle, from any possibility, able to raise consciousness and establish relationships that will carry your work on way beyond your lifetime. You will be ready for anything.

Be a priceless human being. That's what this world is hungry for.

Where is your focus?

Focus on the feeling. Focus on the question. Focus on the reward.

Where is your focus?

Be decisive to clarify your vision.

Choice is redemptive. I'm realizing that it's not really so much about knowing what you're doing than it is about making decisions. Power is a decision.

When you take the first steps and make decision, the creative process will take over and you will figure things out as you go. There's no clear vision from the onset. You follow through the steps one by one and gradually your vision becomes clear. You are not an engineer, you are an artist. However having an engineers decisive call to action is exactly what you need.

Chances are great that what you end up with, what you develop, what you create, will be far from what you started with. It's a lot of small steps and the steps appear to you one by one as you evolve your work.

In the beginning, it is dark. You start with a hunch, a gut feeling, a vague idea. The most important part is that you start. Our creative spirit will make decisions based on the very first one. Remember, if you are afraid to make that first decision, just do something. When you do, you allow the consciousness of your being to evolve. Your brain will start figuring out what the next decisions are. It will start figuring out how to make things work. It will find its way to resolution. Your brain, the creative flow, when put together, is remarkably powerful.

There's no instruction manual for great art. All the genius's of our time know this. It is a slow and steady process and sometimes it comes together in huge leaps and bounds. Sometimes the best stuff happens with no idea what's going on.

Have courage to make decisions. And as you do, step by step, your vision will become clear.

If you're not inspired, you have no mojo

If you're not inspired then you have no mojo. The worst thing for an artist is to feel creativity blocked, your personal voice stifled, the flow stuck. It's agonizing, simply agonizing.

It's not really about content, it's about style, mojo, moxie, hotness. That's what it's about. And if you don't have it, then you'll be spinning circles around yourself, no matter how good you are, how much you have to say, or how much you care. You will die.

And that's unbearable.

What do you do when your feel stifled?

Take breaks. Go on walks, breathe, relax, see a movie, physical activity, preferably outside away from everything always helps me, a connection to nature, a connection to people, dancing, singing, playing, cartwheels, listening to music, make a collage, journal, cook, turn the damn thing upside down and try it another way, radically change things, simplify, obliterate, sometimes black on all the precious parts is just what you need.

There is a way out. There is always a way out. Don't ever give up. If you're stuck, it's ok, give yourself a chance to get unstuck. That's the first step, and I believe the most important one. Giving yourself a chance.

Because if you let the agony take over, you will dig a deeper hole for yourself. You will run more circles, make more excuses, complain to more people, and there is nothing cute about this. No one wants to see, experience or feel this.

Acknowledge the block. Then move forward.

Do something a different way. Go outside, take a long walk, find a new location to work in, rearrange things, clean, detox, make a new schedule, a new agenda, leave town. There are countless approaches to unclogging your sexiness.

Changing your environment is huge. Move things around, take things out, get rid of what isn't working. Find an entirely new approach, new location, new material, new scope, whatever you need to do to feel that good vibe of your true self deep in your guts. Do it and do it well, like the moment is all you have because it is, and it's viable and real and needs to come out of your system in your most creatively charged expression. There's no excuse. You've got it in you.

If it's not working, cut it out. Don't keep it. Don't stay in the agony. It's not worth it. Acknowledge the block, then make a step in a new direction. Sometimes the tiniest of things can be just what you need to stir things up again. Don't keep letting things suck your energy. If it doesn't work, acknowledge it, then let it go, sidestep, get rid of it.

It might mean you must be strong, brave, resilient, all very noble and beautiful things that are highly regarded, sought after and looked up to. What could possibly be wrong with that? Do you see the lesson here?

This will help you later. Acknowledge your process and give yourself some credit. Most importantly, don't ever give up.

Don't ever give up. There's a way out. Your mojo is worth the effort. You came here to thrive. You deserve to thrive. You deserve your mojo, juicy, hotness.

Find a way out. Make it personal. And do it now.

It's not really about content, skill or experience. It's about style, mojo, sure fire hotness. Drop it like you mean it and then back off, let the work speak for itself.

There's no great muse

And the great muse alas, isn't what you thought it was. It's not that glamorous. It's the paint underneath your fingernails, the varnish on your shoes, the dirty desk you work at every day. It's the same old apron that just keeps getting more covered with your paint love stains. That's what it is. It's not that glamorous.

If you think it's glamorous, stick to illusions and TV. It's not art. It's just not. It's dirty, it's hard, it's challenging... but it's yours, and that's priceless.

I think the muse is just having the opportunity to be yourself. It can come in any way, shape or form. You can see a magazine photo, a picture from some trip, or simply, the water bottle on your table. All of which can be equally inspiring, equally viable for your piece of fine art. I think it's all about the work. The daily grind, the getting up and getting to it no matter how you feel. Because it's not glamorous, it never will be.

Trust me. It's not. Who do you think you are to have some great muse? You have to work. Then if you get lucky, it all comes together without you really having to think. That's the best we can hope for. That's the goal, the reward and ultimately what you'll have.

I would give up everything I have simply for these moments. They are the most rewarding and the most genuine. I'm bringing sincerity to the art world. I'm bringing simplicity to this great big life. I'm bringing myself forward. That's all I have to do.

The rest is irrelevant.

What inspires me? Everything. The life I live, the people I meet, my journey, through movie theaters, parks, grocery stores, anywhere, everything, it's all valid. It's all useful. It's my world. I created it.

There's no great muse. Quit looking. Wake up to who you are, what you have, where you are in this moment right here and right now. Then get busy, get dirty, make a mess! That's where the life is, in the struggle, in the figuring out, and if you get lucky, it comes together. That's where ultimately, the magic is, in the work, every day.

There's no great muse. It's simple. All around you, the art is all around you.

Breathe

Take a deep breathe, inhale and exhale. Take it to the center, ground it out.

Now, get busy. :)

Every artist needs an audience

If you are an artist, you need an audience. You are hungry for that connection, just as you are hungry for the solace to create. You might think that you want to be hidden, kept away from the rush, kept away from the spotlight.

You need the spotlight, like you need the cave, ancient and buried in your heart.

You need the thrill, like you need the exile, a road that belongs only to you.

You need the panic, the fear, the "what if they don't like me and spit me out into a futile fog of destitution and agony."

What if they do just that? That thing I'm scared to death of.

Get over it.

You need them. No matter what they say. You absolutely need an audience. Only then will you be a real artist, forced to grow big and resilient and brave. That will fuel your work more than anything else will.

Who cares what they say. Who cares who they are. Who cares why. Put it out there. Put it out there like you mean it, like it's hot, like it's the only thing that matters, the only choice you've got, the only thing that keeps you alive.

Get it to them. Give it to them. Burn the fire and release it to the world.

Every artist needs an audience. You need a following, you need a spotlight, just as much as you need the source, your own energy, your own imagination, your own precious space. It's what you're here for and nothing else matters.

It's very important to have everything in balance for great work, all the elements connected and aligned. Yourself, centered with your higher calling, your skills sharp and ready for attention, your tools the best you can find, know how to use them, get to know intimately the ones you are most attracted to, your knowledge, expansive, experienced and bright, study everything you can and concentrate on what strikes your interest, and very importantly as well, your audience, hungry, ready and charged for what you've got.

Give it to them and mean it. The connection is vital. Get to know your audience, just as much as you know yourself.

It will keep you growing and pushing and paving a personal path through the unknown and that's all any artist every really wants.