Some years ago my trust was broken by two people very close to me.

 

I was stolen from.

I was lied to.

I was crushed. 

 

When this happened, I became more aware of danger around me, both real and imagined. I got scared. I burrowed inside of myself. I could not find the courage I had once felt in sharing truths from my heart. 

 

I called this maturity. I called this growth. I called this boundary setting. 

 

And while all of these descriptions were true, they were not the whole truth. They excluded a very real component in my experience: 

 

I was afraid. 

 

Today, I am not void of fear, but my god, I am exhausted by it.

 

To revitalize ourselves in the face of fear, we must speak. We must deepen our practice of telling our truths to ourselves first and foremost. 

 

And then to others.

 

Below you will find 22 (shout out to yesterday's Autumn equinox) of my truths on Creative Process.

 

With the deadline for SIDEDOOR APPLICATIONS (a one year mentorship with me for  photographers) closing in, and with the announcement of a new date for the rYAN  HUMN Shop this Feb16-18th , back at the stunning ART HOUSE in Joshua tree, it's a season to practice truth telling. 

1.  There is a song trying to be sung through each of us.

 

2. If we do not use the creative forces inside of us to be constructive, they will become destructive.

 

3.  Making art saves lives. Sometimes your own. Sometimes others.

 

4. Art isn’t made by you, it's made through you.

 

5. The greatest artists of our time aren’t necessarily the ones we know or celebrate.

 

6. There is only one way to “make it,” as an artist: Begin your work. Finish it.

 

7. To create is to fail.

 

8. The work you are so sure of making now will embarrass you later.

 

9. The work you are not so sure of making now will make you proud later.

 

10. Being an artist is more than a project, it's a way of life.

 

11. You are your best work of art.

12. Your biggest regret at the end of your life won’t be the things you did or do, but all the things you didn’t.

 

13. To create requires risk.

 

14. The student/teacher relationship is sacred.

 

15. Inspiration is speaking to you at all times, are you listening?

 

16. Understanding ourselves and true nature will do more for the common good than any other endeavor. When we understand we are at peace within and therefore create more peace in the world around us.

 

17. When we do not understand ourselves, we are chaos, and we create more chaos.

 

18. Understanding oneself is the work of a lifetime.

 

19. Every thing you can think of making already exists in another realm. It's there, waiting for you to find it.

 

20. We are unhappy because we consume when we are meant to create.

 

21. It's easier and requires far less courage to define ourselves by what we are against rather than by what we are for.

 

22. The artist intuits they are bigger than any singular definition. They sense that the exact moment they are able to define themselves is the moment they have ceased raw authenticity.