I often hear from artists who fear that the colorful castles in the sky from which they create will inevitably turn into dull and drab cubiclesque containers if they commit to being more visible and expansive with sharing and selling their creations. Basically, they are afraid to even try to make money from their art because they don’t want to end up hating or resenting it. Have you ever felt that way?
There’s a lot of talk about “earning money doing what you love”, but there’s less said about earning money while being what you love. Take a moment and answer this question: “What words most describe the ways you love to be?”
For me, some of the words that come to mind are: playful, joyful, silly, outrageous, daring, colorful, whimsical, bold, fantastical, meaningful, alive…
What words come up for you?
This is an inquiry that doesn’t get enough emphasis, especially in our very goal-oriented, doing-focused society. The traditional structures with which we are familiar are not inherently set up to create a template for being the things we love as we follow our creative dreams. Yet I believe not only is it possible to simultaneously do what we love and be what we love, in fact, one fuels the other. When we engage in a dream fully committed to be what we love, that solid commitment provides the momentum, motivation, and magic to help us do what we love. What we need are more tools and resources to help us know how to bring more beingness to the process…in short, how to make work feel like play.
We’ve already begun to see changes in the way that our society approaches work. As the economy moves up and down and people are expressing discontent in louder voices than ever, companies are trying new strategies for employee retention and performance improvement. On the individual level, there has never been a better time to step forward with new dreams, doing what you love and being what you love in new ways.
The people that are going to be the biggest catalysts of change will be the steadfast, nurturing weavers of wisdom, the illuminating, passionate painters of purpose, and the encouraging, persistent, handcrafters of hope, that one by one touch lives and inspire souls…and do it all from their colorful castles in the air.
If you could create in the colorful castle of your dreams…and dare to be doing what you love while being what you love, what do you see out your window?