Creative Friday: Creating Counts

Does a creator need the attention, numbers and sales to create?

I might as well ask the philosophical question: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

Of course it does.

Just because no one yet knows about the secret thrill you get from knitting, blogging or compiling photo slideshows, doesn’t mean it doesn’t count.

In fact, there is an immense list of artists who were discovered later in life, sometimes even after they were gone. Emily Dickinson ring a bell?

Why Your Creative Efforts Count

I know of too many people who gave up on their dreams because they believed that what they created didn’t count.

But it does. Because somewhere out there needs exactly what you have to offer. And while you’re holed up away, hiding it from critical eyes, you are denying them and yourself from benefitting from it.

I know it’s difficult because it feels like everyone younger than you has already done what you’re doing, only better and faster. But our creative gifts are like fingerprints. No one is exactly like the other.

Be a Crafty Creator Starting Now

Today, why not take that step to share your craftiness with the world {would love to see what you’re working on: leave your link in the comments} or at least with someone you trust?

Every time I blog I risk that this piece will bomb big time. And a lot of times it does. Then, I read how this person or that person has millions of hits per month and I want to crawl under a big rock and hide. But instead I keep doing it. Because every once in awhile I will get an email that moves me to tears. The kind of letter that reminds me empowering the disempowered, helping those believe that anything is really impossible, is enough of a reason to keep going.

For creative Friday today, I’m going to share with you a few of my quirky photos. It’s something I do often here. And I do it with both love and fear. Somewhere deep inside my creative heart, I think that one of the “real photographers” out there will criticize it.

But it’s okay.

The point isn’t perfection, it is perfect creativity. Creativity is a blend of intuition and the beauty of imperfection.

Hope it will inspire you to do something creative today and this weekend!

For more quirky madness, check out my Etsy shop here.