Feb. 12, 2002
I’m still amazed at all the support and encouragement I get for living out my dream. I am indebted to all the strangers, new found friends, and of course, my husband, who keeps telling me that this is the right thing to do. That support, that encouragement, has been essential to me becoming comfortable with what I’m doing.
But when you stop and think about it, how many of us are ever encouraged to be creative? How many of us encourage others? When was the last time you heard someone say, “Yes! Pursue that music career!” or “Yes! You should be a painter!” I bet we’ve heard “You should really go to college and get that degree and become something respectable” more often.
Of course, there isn’t anything wrong with going to college or having a job in corporate America. Nothing wrong if that’s what you want to do. But it is wrong, I think, if you’re a creative sort, to be anything but.
My best friend Emily is one of the most talented and creative artists you could ever imagine. Just you know she’s artistic, she has that skinny, hip, nonchalant odd look about her. I always encouraged her to be an artist and while I encouraged her, she pursued it.
But several years ago we had a fallout and stopped speaking to each other for a couple of years. And when I did finally approach her again and asked what she was up to, her answer shocked me.
“I’m in college, getting my degree so I can be an accountant.”
“A WHAT?” I cried!
“An accountant.”
“What ever for?”
“Well, it seemed practical, like a good steady job. You know, I had that scholarship from school for it and I did all right in it during grade twelve. It just seemed logical.”
“No, it doesn’t.” I said to her. “You are so not an accountant. You hate math! You hate offices! You’re an artist! You took art classes at art school once. Why didn’t you keep going?”
“No one ever told me I should, except you. And you weren’t around anymore.”
We went on to have a whole conversation about how ridiculous, and almost funny, it was for her to be an accountant. I kept encouraging her to be an artist and sure enough, she stopped taking classes in accounting and found her way into a very well known art college. Today she is flourishing in the school, has sold a few paintings and is just over a year away from getting her degree. She’s also become highly involved in music and met her fiancé who is an artist as well. She is happy, content and living the life she was meant to lead. I don’t want to imagine what would have happened had she been doing tax returns now.
I think a lot of people don’t encourage art out of either fear or well meaning. We want to protect those we love from disappointment or hardship – and a lot of us still think that by pursuing a creative career that we’ll do nothing but suffer. Some people discourage art careers because they don’t think it’s practical or financially sound, or respectable. I think that sometimes money and power is overrated. Happiness on any level should be respectable. Having a job you love and work hard at, should be respectable.
Since I have become a writer, my outlook on art and creativity has changed. It’s all become so much more personal. I encourage others to waken up some creative part of them. I believe if I am to be a part of art, I must support in others in it.
Now, I don’t buy store bought gifts anymore; instead I buy art or a product that someone makes. When I buy something from an artist I am saying, “YES! Thank you for being creative. I believe in you.” I also tend to buy things from artists for my friends who want to be artists.
For example, my friend is turning 58 next week so I put together an artists kit which included an awe inspiring Super Hero bracelet, a signed & personalised copy of The Invitation, a copy of The Artists Way, some watercolours, pencil crayons and a blank canvas book. She’d been talking about wanting to do art again so I designed a kit to encourage her. The night she received her kit, she sketched some wonderful pictures in her new notebook and something in her woke up. She was a little braver after that and a little bit happier to boot.
We need to encourage those who are creative and artistic to be so – even if it’s ourselves. Then we need to support each other’s works – either with money or words – to show that it is valued. We need to start saying YES! to art again, whenever we can, so that art becomes more everyday and not so scary to those who wish to make a living in it.
Gandhi said that we must be the change we want to see in the world. And I, for one, would like to see a greater acceptance of art and those involved with it.