your self expression matters
What you have to say matters. What you have in your heart, ready to take shape in whatever creative expression you choose matters. How can you believe otherwise? How can you forget how precious you are and how important your impact is in a world like this?
I think about my favorite book, The Neverending Story, and I ask myself how would my life have been without it? I donât want to sound dramatic but considering my life without my favorite book is tragic to me. I think about the writer; if they had doubted themselves while writing it, if they wavered or thought the world wasnât ready for such a story, what would have happened?
So I write, I draw, I sing. I have difficulty at times getting things out or making them make sense for those who donât live in my head, but still, I keep doing what I love, I cannot give it up anymore. Because when I think about the author of my favorite book, I know he was only choosing to do what was most fulfilling for him, even before making âa use for itâ. Even before transforming it into âa productâ. Where would my favorite book be if that author had thought that the story was too silly? You see, thatâs the most tragic thing for me, when we adults believe that doing what we love is silly.
When we were kids, we would do things just for the joy of it. There was no great plan ahead and we would begin somewhere. We would trust the path even before being assured that some wonderful reward was at the end. But now, weâre adults and our focus has somehow to be on the use. Now itâs all about monetizing, making it fruitful and I know that it is important. But I get sick of this mindset, when it kills the joy of diving in your personal craft, because getting to know your craft is also about getting to know yourself and taking your time with it, see it evolve before itâs something. Itâs important to give yourself the chance to do so even when sometimes it will turn into a memory or a thing you tried and didnât work out. Itâs good to start somewhere, knowing that we get better as we keep going and without expecting ourselves to be instant experts, because we know itâs a process. I feel like itâs good to have a plan but itâs way better to stay open to opportunities as they come, no expectations. The priority is in focusing on what we love because when we do that, we give ourselves the space and time to grow; when opportunities come, weâll be ready. But if our focus is too much on the result itself, the craft will get lost in stagnancy, because the focus isnât on that anymore, itâs in the future, weâre in our minds; so we disconnect from our hearts and our creativity. Opportunities do come to all those who believe in them, which is something we should never forget.
I also think about Harry Potter and the fact that that book got rejected so many times before finally being published. I tremble. I canât think of my childhood without Harry Potter and I wasnât even that die hard of a fan, but my childhood without those memories? I canât think of it. If the author had given up, there would be no Harry today. The world is filled with fighters that had to find their way through obstacles and what they found out surely was that it was all worth it.
How many times does doubt come and makes us believe that our words donât matter? It may sound like the exhausted tone of a parent that has 0% energy to deal with you; it may sound like someone who had to give up their dreams and now hates anyone who goes after theirs; it may sound like those who have stopped believing in dreams and joy altogether.
I think about all those who knew that what they had in their heart was precious and didnât give up even when the world was harsh. I think about all the visionaries who got scorned or made fun of, just because they believed in something that others couldnât see. Maybe at times one gives in to those disillusioned voices, and they trade their joy for something that looks like discouragement, fear, because that voice is so tricky, it has the ability to make up reasons why it cannot work, when after all it only is the voice of someone that doesnât believe nor knows the value of it. I think of the doctor who understood the importance of washing hands before operating on patients but who was mistreated by the entire scientific community. Gloves didnât exist back then. I am horrified because they were so convinced of being right while they were wrong all along. He was simply showing the results of his observations, but they werenât listening since they thought âthey knew betterâ. Progress stops when we think we know it all, doesnât it?
Would we have airplanes, electricity, cameras, movies or medical progress at all? Just because others donât see value in it, it doesnât mean there isnât. This is the greatest illusion we end up believing. There is value in absolutely everything around us and the most beautiful thing is that we can create it too!
I think about my everyday heroes like the writers of the newsletters I am subscribed to, to mention a few: Hazel Gale, Maria Popova, Bella Payne, and Michael Meade. They were able to help me in ways I cannot describe. I think about people who had the courage to share part of their journey with full authenticity, embracing the fear of judgment; I think of that song that melted my heart when I didnât know what was hardening it; I think of that quote that awakened a lost part within me. I think of that life lesson a person decided to share after going through absolute heartbreak but turned it into wisdom. They are all the reason why I remembered to get up when I forgot how. Iâm not saying weâre here to make each other whole or to restore the desert within our hearts but we are definitely here to fulfill ourselves and as we do so, others remember too. So it starts with ourselves, even when it doesnât change other peopleâs lives; if it only changes ours, it matters just as much. And it happens with the tiniest things. When you arenât scared about being honest, youâll give someone the opportunity to say things exactly how they hold them in their hearts, because theyâll see they donât have to be afraid or conform with you as theyâve been taught to do, they donât have to hide.
Life is a tapestry where each thread, meeting another finds a way to keep going, isnât it? I think Life must be very romantic in some way. Because the Universe couldnât imagine this world without each one of us. Because the Universe knows what each of us needs and wisely intersects us all so we can rekindle each other. Because the Universe knows we all need each other, indeed.
We are the builders of this world; each of us canât do it all at once, but if we all unite and do each our part, wonât it be wonderful? Isnât everything going to flourish as it was always intended?
Your self-expression matters. It may be art to some or music to others. But it is above all love for yourself.
So keep writing, keep dreaming, keep immersing yourself in your craft, whatever that may be.