24

you have to make it.

after a while, the answer isn’t in other people’s art. it’s in yours. God made you good at something. so now you have to make it.

take as long as you need to find out what this is, but you can’t not figure it out and you can’t not do the thing. and then once you start, you must not stop. do not become distracted by criticism or praise (or worst of all, silence); treat them both the same, as Rudyard Kipling admonishes in his poem.

we create for the purpose of expressing the light within, not for it to be liked. look around you. God didn’t create everything to be liked. that’s not why we create. and God didn’t create to make money; money is man’s own limited shorthand. don’t worry. your day/night job can make you money but it’s your art that must bring you value: does it keep you out of trouble? does it keep you sane? does it keep you from despair? well, keep going and that’s what happiness feels like.

words are so limited. define your own “it makes me happy.” define your own “this is me” and “i’ve always wanted to do this.” God created you to create, not merely to consume.

let me also just say, it’s “create [energy].” your art need not be material. it can be lighting up a room [with your energy]. sparking the joy of learning within a child [with your energy]. showing people that they, too, can be brave [with your energy]. it’s art when the light of the universe passes through your hands and into another. art is how we keep the lights on.