To be an Artist

I found this necklace at my favorite shop in Charlotte: The Bag Lady (Provisions for the Wild Woman). I had to have it as a reminder that it takes courage to believe in oneself and to put your creations out into the world not knowing how they will be received. So this is for all the artists out there as a reminder that what you do really does matter. Spending time creating is important, regardless of whether your work sells or not.

Matthew Fox, in his book "Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet" shows how important it is to meet the world with the creativity of an artist, particularly in these uncertain times:
"What do we do with chaos? Creativity has an answer. We are told by those who have studied the processes of nature that creativity happens at the border between chaos and order. Chaos is a prelude to creativity. We need to learn, as every artist needs to learn, to live with chaos and indeed to dance with it as we listen to it and attempt some ordering. Artists wrestle with chaos, take it apart, deconstruct and reconstruct from it. Accept the challenge to convert chaos into some kind of order, respecting the timing of it all, not pushing beyond what is possible—combining holy patience with holy impatience--that is the role of the artist. It is each of our roles as we launch the twenty-first century because we are all called to be artists in our own way. We were all artists as children. We need to study the chaos around us in order to turn it into something beautiful. Something sustainable. Something that remains".

So be the artist you were born to be. The world needs you.