I am always grateful for the encouragement I receive from others. I am thankful for this calling in my life as well, to encourage and inspire others in their own pursuits. It is funny... because I don't know if I ever thought of it as a calling until the last couple of years, or if I more just felt like that was who I was, just deep down, that is how I feel and am, really and truly.
I am glad when I can bump into people and have real conversations with them about their own art or their challenges and hurdles. I am glad to be able to develop relationships with people like this, where they feel they can share with me those things. The cool thing is, we are not alone. The role of community is so important in this process. Just getting outside of ourselves and plugging into the resources that are available can change us and open us up to so much possibility. Maybe a book I would otherwise not have heard of is recommended by a friend and one simple phrase in it changes me. For that I am infinitely grateful. Hopefully, I can do that for others as well. What is neat, is that we can follow along on each others progress, cheering for each other. Don't get caught up in the mess of you are there and I am only here... that stuff stinks and it does no good. I heard a quote a while back, 'Don't compare your beginning with someone else's middle'. As in, your storyline has its own course and others storyline's do as well. But, seriously, watching someone else acknowledge a hurdle in front of their creative process. Name it and call it out for what it is, a silly hurdle. Then watching them study it and get ready for the running start they will need to jump it... that stuff is truly exciting to me. Nothing makes me more feel more jazzed then watching people entertain possibility in themselves and acknowledge their art and give themselves that space to think about what it is that is keeping them from it; then getting ready to take the running leap across those boundaries! Yes, yes, yes! This is the awesome- ness of the human spirit and the joy of being alive. Make your music, don't stay silent! Paint your mural, let it be seen! Sew your clothing, wear it out and about! Grow your garden! Help other people become their best! Serve an underserved community! I love to look at these experiences like seeing fresh sprouts coming up all around. Recently, the weather in the mountains has been...well, a lot like weather in the mountains can be, back and forth. We have had some unseasonably warm days, some serious bouts with rain (the ole studio floods of 2013 were a result of this) and some random freezes with disappointing snow for all of those Winter sports lovers. But on a recent hike, I saw some of the evidence of our confusing weather. Some stuff had sprung up. It was a bit sooner than maybe I had thought I would be seeing stuff like this and I am hoping it survives, but it was an interesting contrast to see such green against the grey winter ground. It reminded me a lot of how it can feel when we go through those long wintry times in our lives, then finally a hopeful green of new life can spring up. It is hopeful. I am thankful for the community I have that reminds me of this daily. I hope that we can cultivate that more and more, our creative selves and our encouraging community. Hoping this day you find hope in your life and creative pursuits, Court p.s. Working hard on Art Nurture: The Simple Guide to Cultivating Your Creativity! You can be a part of the first printing and release by pre-ordering the paperback or e-book on the homepage!
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