The Flame

Being a creative usually starts with perception and sensitivity. Artists and writers translate the world around them into a transferable language that takes their viewer / reader into that place, that experience, and gives them for one brief moment a sight through the creative's eyes. Not everyone is capable of abstract thought, to see beyond themselves, but creatives transport others, opening doors and minds in the process. Not limited to what they see, creatives reveal that there is more, and therefore strip away the self imposed limits of the person intaking the work of the creatives' hearts and minds. Media is important for this reason.

However to be this sort of shaman of thought and imagination, is a taxing reality. It comes with a myriad of reactions by those who experience their work. Sometimes it manifests in jealousy or a lack of respect for these hours of creation as real work, when the very act taps resources of emotional and psychological depths that often are not used in the average profession. Sometimes it manifest in obsessors or destroyers of different shapes and breeds, people who either want to own the creative recognizing something special, and being lofty of mind, believe they deserve to have the creative all to themselves, and then rob them of their voice and in that their purpose and freedom to create. Often this is followed by the "if I can't have you, no one will" mentality and the general suffocation of the creative's light. The world is a little darker, every time one of these lights go out.

All the while that which makes a creative is sensitivity and perception, which makes these strikes all the more powerful, the wounds deeper, the hits more damaging, because of what they are. It is no wonder that many creatives suffer from depression or emotional disturbances, because of the yoke of being a creative. It often takes another creative to understand, and help fuel those flames that bring life to ideas. In that contact, there is a synergy, and they burn brighter by the mere presence of a kindred flame. Because to shine your light in the dark can be a lonely path.

A truly cultivated creative though, cannot stop creating, with what they are given. In this they can transform the negative into a positive, their experiences into a lesson, and their broken heart into an unbreakable tool for the protection of other hearts. Those negative experiences become fuel for inspiration and they can turn crap into gold, which I lovingly call the Midass touch.

Be what you are, illuminate the darkness, expose the shadows, feel the heights and depths of emotion, and be not afraid, because what you are is as beautiful as anything you create. In a world of destruction, you are the counter ... CREATE