“Take the first step in faith.
You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
~Confucius
~Confucius
On this day that honors Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who taught tolerance, I'd like to propose another kind of tolerance. One will make your creative life easier if you buy into it. If you don't, good luck.
When I decided creativity was going to be my life, I knew I had to either develop a "tolerance muscle" or be among the 85% that gives up on their dreams because they can't endure the obstacles that naturally emerge and don't fulfill the unrealistic expectations of accomplishing things quickly, easily, and the way the idea looks in their minds.
Creativity has another plan for us. She says, "This isn't about getting your way immediately, it's about searching the depths of your soul to muster up devotion to a process who's rewards go far beyond your acrylic landscape or chapter four in your book."
Perhaps the world never showed any faith in you.... do you have the strength to show faith in yourself by showing-up for your creative call? Rather than show up for the product, can you show up for the process of being true to yourself? Showing-up perfectly isn't important.
To stay on the path of my passion I got to tolerate my ineptness, blunders, inadvertently published typos, and the fact that my painting and writing didn't look like other people stuff that I liked a lot. I got to tolerate projects taking three and four times as long as I planned, hitting walls, looking foolish and coming face to face with my ugly shadows. I got to tolerate my habits of procrastination and continually starting something new without completing anything. I got to tolerate people not liking me, thinking I'm strange, unsubscribing from my newsletter, not "getting" my art. I got to tolerate proposals getting rejected and once, I got to tolerate ripping up my favorite painting because I was looking at the wrong side.
If you're a warrior, you've tolerated many of these things too. And changing the language from "I had to" ..." to "I got to tolerate ..." makes it clear that it was an honor to do that for myself.
Self-compassion is required to stay the course and in that compassion
an unmatched contentment and courage is possible.
an unmatched contentment and courage is possible.
Creativity reassures you that when you passionately persevere through the tumult of detractors, the reward is far beyond the painting and the piece of writing. The awards are strength, self-respect, and confidence that applies to every area of your life, breaking limitations, presenting a new perception that widens your existence beyond what you formerly knew what was possible. There's a faith that you can get through anything so you can share with the world and inspire others, at the very least, your courage, and at the most, your brilliance.
