Artist PlayDate: All Security Nets Have Been Removed So Strap on Your Wings, It’s Time to Fly

Over the course of the last two weeks, the artists who were scheduled for Artist PlayDates have had unavoidable things happen. One artist had an accident and the other was battling illness. Please join me in sending well wishes and BIG hugs out to them!

So, you have me again this week..hope you don't mind but these artists will be making an appearance in the coming weeks along with many, fabulous others.

I will be attending an event tomorrow that requires that I leave before noon. So, I would just ask that you get your submission in no later than midnight EST so that I can include them tomorrow! I can't wait to share...some of the ones I am seeing are going to make your jaw hit the floor.

The worst mistake I’ve made in my professional life has been to search for security. Now don’t get me wrong we all need money to keep a roof over our head and food on the table but I took it to the extreme.

When I first learned that it was possible to make a living as a writer and artist, I knew that was what I wanted to do. I scribbled notes in my journals about characters, story ideas for the next “great American novel” and sketched images to go along with my poetry. Although I had no idea how to get published or where to submit my work, I believed I could make it happen. Enter my family.

“Of course you can be a writer, just make sure you have a backup. Writing is a tough field and you want to make sure you have something to fall back on,” they’d often say. “Art? An artist? Yes I think you can be an artist, just make sure you have a backup. Art is a tough field and you always want to be sure you have a backup.”

I know they were trying to protect me but their worry, their mantra became my mantra and before I knew it, I was backup obsessed. I needed the safety and security of my backup before I could do anything else. I took jobs in corporate America because I’d become obsessed with making sure that I had “enough” money as though having enough was a tangible idea. Do we ever feel as though we have enough? Isn’t there always that little bit more we could use? I believed that when I achieved the right amount of the security that would be the right time to pursue my craft. I would have a safety net in place and thereby not get hurt going after my dream. The problem was I spent so much time trying to create my safety net that I lost all track of my dream.

What I have come to learn through tremendous trial and error is that security is a fallacy, it is an illusion we create for ourselves. When you look at the natural world there is little that is secure; as cliché as it may be to say, “Change in our one constant.” No amount of money, no great number of things will prevent something from going wrong at any time. Then again, no amount of money or things will stop things from going right either.

Passion, self-belief and a willingness to test your wings are what will help you to pursue your dreams and make them a reality. There is remarkable freedom in losing the idea of security. When we stop holding on to everything from the people in our lives to old habits for dear life, we can separate ourselves from the idea that we “need” things and people in order to survive and realize who and what we “want” to have in our world and that thought, that wanting brings about a greater sense of appreciation for everything and everyone.

Suddenly, we can stop building that secure fortress around ourselves or our loved ones. We can stop spending all of our time worrying about what “might” happen. We can release our grip and instead of trying to keep everyone free from harm and worrying about every little thing, we can enjoy the folks in our lives, celebrate them and help them to adjust their wings so that they might soar. We can stop creating only the things we think will sell and start taking risks in our art. We can stop being who we think others want us to be as artists and writers and start being who we are. We can start creating the pieces we’ve always dreamed of, those pieces that visit us in our day and night dreams and cause butterflies of excitement in on our stomach.

Today, I invite you to think about the idea that there is no security. Does that thought make you feel uncomfortable? If so, that’s good. I always find I get immensely uncomfortable before I make an exciting change or embrace a shift in perspective. If you were to stop, “playing it safe” what would you do? Believe me, this is an idea that challenges me. It makes me want to crawl out of my own skin sometimes but it also intrigues and excites me. I still worry but not as much and I still find myself clamoring for the illusionary security net but I have come to appreciate so much about this life and as that appreciation continues to deepen, the freedom in believing there is no such thing as security becomes more intoxicating. I have stopped playing it safe and been lost for quite some time and sometimes lost is good; lost led me to this beautiful space. So, I recommend burning the safety net and strapping on your wings. It’s scary at first, no doubt but I’m just starting to feel a little brave and who knows where that could lead.