I am not an Artist?

This blog is specifically for all of us who fight with the internal struggle of "being" against all odds.

Artist or not, it is a statement of validity.

I have a right to be.

I have been told quite a few times over the years that what I do isn't art.

In the past, this has crippled me. Hurt me. Terrorized me. Stopped me. I allowed this statement to become a reason or a fear that gave me excuses to hide under. It was my "not good enough" or my "it isn't real any way".

I have chosen photography and photo manipulation as my medium to express the artist within.

Yes, I take pictures.

Yes, the people I take pictures of are already beautiful. 

Yes, there are thousands who do what I do ten times better.

And yes, I completely respect what they do without question, and you will not hear me putting down someone else's art or photography. 

That does not minimize what I do or who I am. 

Will I ever "succeed"? I already have. 

Every time I get the shot that is how I saw it in my minds eye, success.

Every time I have sketched an image over and over and can make it come to life, success.

Every time someone else sees what I see, success.

Every time someone asks me to share my vision of them, success.

I don't need your approval to KNOW the hours I spend creating. Not with paint, charcoal or clay. But ideas and images that tumble one over the other, consuming my every thought. Words that literally fall from the sky, that if I don't write, I can't focus.

You don't have to like it.

You don't even have to understand it.

Maybe you have art in you, and it scares you to express it. Maybe you are limited in your thoughts and ambitions. I have been, and I'm not afraid any more to admit it. The truth is, I know that every one has a camera. I know that photo shop is easily learned. I know that nothing I do is truly original or solely unique. 

You don't need to tell me this, it is a fact that already exists! There is nothing new under the sun. 

Whatever it is you do to express who you are-be it music, writing, painting, dancing, or even just being... You are a creator, an artist. 

Your palette is life itself. The lives you touch are forever shaped by the choices you make, moulding them into your image. Your canvas is the world, each movement, leaving brush strokes of inspiration. Your mind is a constant camera, recording and documenting through a perception solely your own. Your voice is your song and your body a dancers. How you speak and what you move creates your music and determines your dance.

Instead of trying to stop the artists around you, why not begin living your own art within? 

Instead of trying to prove your form is more vital or valid, why not admit that it isn't, but it's your own?

And here's a biggie.... Why not simply admit that you don't understand that it's okay to be? And in being, it's okay to let others be as well?

If I ever reach a point of financial or worldly success, I will remember you with fondness. For truly, I am thankful for your disdain and ignorance. 

Partly because YOU helped me find my voice, and partly because you are someone I won't ever need to share that with.