The Courage to Create: A Love Letter to Creatives

Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dear Creatives, Artists, Change Agents, Radicals and Revolutionaries,

This is my love letter to you.

 I feel an overwhelming need to say thank you. No seriously, THANK YOU.

It takes courage to create.

Everyday you stand up and share your voice. Share your vision. Share your passion. 

You are creating a new culture. Showing us all a new path. Lighting the way. Your values are clear and  everyday you show me who you are by way of deed and action. Your willingness to stand up and be your authentic selves is affecting the way this country  does business. It is affecting the way we are percieved by the rest of the world. It affects the way we see our selves. You are  making new kinds of businesses and nonprofits.You are  building a body of work that is changing the world.

You are :

•   creating and purchasing  sustainable products and services because of your concern for the planet and all its people .
•  bringing important issue’s to the mainstream. Issues concerning women, poverty, education and social justice.Its the rock on which you stand.
•  speaking for those that have no voice and telling stories  of the disenfranchised and the marginalized.
• inspiring people to question what is important and what is meaningful in our everyday life
• teaching the world that souls are more important than egos

You are using your dance, your art, your painting, your writing, your imagination, your heart, your voice and, your hands to change people and in doing that you are changing communities.

It takes courage to have your creations, your great ideas, your bold vision, and  your soul marched out for the world to dissect, discuss and sometimes ridicule. Yet, everyday you stand tall and come back for more.

 You see collaborations not as a good option but as the ONLY option to come up with new solutions. Success is not about more money or a bigger office but about a life of depth and meaning.

You are vulnerable and strong all at once. You are beautiful.

I see you doing all of this and for the most part I see you doing it alone.  No one has ever really understood you or this path you are on- until you found a community of  creatives on twitter, or once you started blogging.  Even as you stand alone — firmly believing in your ability to change systems and communities-you have courage. You rage and you revolutionize.

You are brave.

It has been said that creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.  Every day you ride the wave of possibility….and most days you get “worked” by life.  

Yet you get back up and you do the most holy thing that we as humans can ever do– you rebuild, restart, rethink, recover.

You taught me that failure is not fatal.

At the heart of who you are is the ability to recover-to overcome. To try and fail. To miss the mark and make mistakes. You do all of these things …but you always recover, you always overcome. You always have, and you always will.

It takes courage to let your light shine, and do that which others think is impossible.

Most days your light shines upon my face. It warms my spirit and encourages me to fight the good fight. It renews my soul.

So I salute and honor you. I lift you up. I thank you.

Courage is the greatest quality that we as humans can have. It is through your acts of courage that you are helping us all move on to greater things.

Continue to be fearless.. the world needs you. I need you.

With love and gratitude,

Desiree