Today, I want to tell you about how I've struggled in my relationship to being an artist.
It took me a long time to feel connected to the meaning behind making art.
In truth, I always thought in my ideal career path I'd be a therapist or journalist or "spiritual teacher" or shaman or a self-help-type writer.
(Yep. I've made mental plans based on each one of these things)
I am the kind of person that needs meaning. I seek it. Cling to it. Fall back on it when other things fall through. This insatiable desire is what has driven me a seeker throughout my life.
But it has also been a big reason why I've had SUCH a hard time (I mean like, a really hard time) working day jobs, as well as figuring out what the heck I should do with myself in this life.
Beyond enjoyment, money, stability or anything else my heart has always needed to feel deeply connected to what I wake up and do everyday.
So when I felt the call to really take making art seriously, I thought maybe I had fallen short.
I thought that maybe I'd copped out of doing deep, important work in the world.
Yes, I loved it. Yes, I found that I had a bit of a knack for it. And, sure, creating and color-making was therapeutic. But how could I be fulfilled in the long run by moving paint around on canvas?
I didn't know if making art would hold anything for me other than a fun way to pass time.
I wasn't convinced that there would be anything at the end other end of the artist's tunnel than piles of colored canvases, a dent in my wallet from all the art supplies and a few sold Etsy pieces. This is the main reason I hesitated for so long to go all in and own being an artist.
Why I was SO hesitant to move out of the hobby zone.
I kept painting though, because my soul craved it.
And slowly, the whole thing took on a life of it's own.
Slowly, I could feel there was meaning in this work.
It was bubbling up beneath each finished piece, but I struggled to understand what that meaning was for a long time.
Surely, it couldn't be decorating people's homes (...or could it?).
Here is the truth I want to share with you today. The truth that has finally found me and put into words WHY it is so important to CREATE:
Beauty heals the world.
When I came across this simple truth it pulled together what my soul had been trying to tell me for years.
Beauty is so important.
In diving deeper into, I asked myself:
What have I spent so much of my time, money and energy throughout my life trying to see, live amongst and experience?
Beauty.
What do I seek out when I want to clear my energy, have some me time, connect in to my truth?
...Beauty.
Beauty is a reflection of our own inner light.
And I'm realizing:
Beauty is not just an indulgent side note of this life.
(I really used to think it was).
Beauty is actually kind of everything (or, at least, it's a lot of the things).
It's what makes being on Earth such a uniquely special experience.-- the tangible, physical experience of beautiful.
And in this way, a life's work of creating beauty (in any way, shape or form) is one of the most meaningful, important things that any of us could be doing.
So if you're struggling with this same question that I was, if you feel like following your creative nudges is indulgent, or a waste of time, or pointless...know that it is meaningful at it's core.
That creating beauty is a noble quest.
That the world needs your beauty in any way you feel called to give it.
Sending you so much love on your creative journey,
Devon