Talent is just the beginning.

Talent is just the beginning.
It is the small seed, nurtured by discipline, watered by consistency, and blooming in the soil of effort.

We covet what others do.
We resign ourselves to being unremarkable, not-very-good, and lacking.
We like to tell other people that we’ll never be good at The Thing.

But we can, if we choose.

What we don’t see of talented people is the hours of work that goes into the skill.
Careful curation of another painting, another failed sewing project, a photograph that didn’t quite capture the image of the imaginer, a hoarse voice from being pushed so hard.

We don’t see the tears of frustration, or the constant threats of giving up.

The bad backs.
The sore muscles.
The time deemed as wasted with nothing to show.
The feeling of lacking progress.
The anger at slow learning.
The sadness at another mistake.

The silent smile of success…

It’s not talent.

It’s deeper than that.

It’s something that’s birthed in pain, anguish, joy, and tears.

This creation that demanded to be born,
the idea that chose us as the vessel to come into this world,
that kicked incessantly within us day-by-day until we took action.

It never feels like a choice; it feels like an obligation.

The unrelenting, intuitive knowing that we must, we must, we must…

Then, in the aftermath, when we declare it finished.

We show the world, they say we are talented, but we know it is more than that.

And then an idea whispers to us, and we begin again.

Art is a process of trust.

When you do not see your style, your process, your colours, or your vision reflected around you – rejoice.

Yours is not wrong. It is simply yours.

You must trust yourself that it is “good enough”.

Trust your creative vision.
Trust your intuition.
Bring forward that which is deep within you and let it live in the world.

When you can’t see it in the world, it’s because you are the first to do it.

No one else has your vision, your experiences, your passion, your outlook, your style, your story.

Just you.

And everything you create will have traces of you within it.

Trust that everything that has brought you thus far is exactly what you needed to create everything within you.

Dare to be bored.

You need to dream it before you can do it.
Your dreams are the keys to unlock your desires.
Your dreams are the roadmaps to manifest your wants.

Creativity begins with dreaming.

But dreaming cannot bloom without space.

Dare to be bored.

Do not distract yourself any more with quick-fix dopamine hits.
Endless scrolling.
Whim purchases that thrill for a moment.

Your soul was made for more than fireworks.

The route to your happiness begins in boredom,
in giving your mind space to wander through the discomfort and disturb the cobwebbed corners of your heart, until you find treasure.

Hold yourself accountable.

It is you who wakes, and you who sleeps.
None are with you on this journey.

It is you.

You are the beginning and end.
You are the alpha and omega of your desires.

How you get there is a path that you form, brick by brick, step by step, until you decide it is finished.
You create – then you let it go and surrender the rest.

But you will have been responsible for birthing an entire world, beginning with your own idea.

Get lost in your own imagination.

Disturb.
Provoke.
Burn.
Rebuild.

Over and over and over again.

The journey forges us and makes us free.
And true freedom feels terrifying.

So be afraid and wander.

Moving toward, moving away.

Every decision and action toward your goal is moving toward.

In moving toward, you also move away.

You cannot take everything with you.

Sometimes we have to do the things we don’t want to do now, so that we can have the things we want later.

So let it fall into your past with gratitude,

perhaps grieving,

but ever onward.

Quiet courage

Courage isn’t always loud.
Courage doesn’t always cause a scene.

Sometimes, it’s simple.

It’s making a choice,
committing to a goal,
asking for help,
letting go of an idea,
or deciding a new direction.

Sometimes, it’s waking up and choosing life.
Other times, it’s a tiny step.

It is giving up,
Or it is onward.

Courage is the choice when fear is present.

And I think you’re very brave, my love.