Last month a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to attend one of the monthly talks held by Creative Mornings. Intrigued, I agreed to attend the event and decided to do a little research on this organization. I learned that Creative Mornings is a breakfast lecture series for the creative community. One Friday morning a month, attendees come together for coffee, breakfast and a chance to listen to a short talk. Each meeting is free of charge and open to anyone. While the program initially started in New York, cities all over the world now host Creative Mornings gatherings.
Seeing as how this was my first event I did not know what to expect, but the experience was incredibly exciting and invigorating. The speaker for November in Washington D.C. was Kelly Towles an emerging street artist in DC. Aside from the energy I gained from simply being around creative people, I really enjoyed his talk because it served as a reminder that I need to believe in myself more. Kelly has only exhibited a few times at galleries and has been gaining exposure by obtaining grants with the DC Arts Commission. Kelly does not have 20 years of experience and is not a world-renowned artist and yet there he stood in front of a packed room of a hundred people talking about his work, his passion. It made me think that if he can do it, why can't I?
Often times, we take the view that we are "not ready" to take the next step with our work and that we need a little more training. However, you can spend your whole life training and preparing for the next step only for you to wake up one morning and realize that you have never done anything. Sometimes, you have to take a risk, be bold and simply make a move. I walked out of that message with a challenge to myself -- a challenge that I would like to extend to you. Be bold -- go out and apply for fellowships, grants and enter competitions. Do not wait to learn everything before making a move to do something. Walk in faith -- faith in your abilities and faith in yourself.
Often times, we take the view that we are "not ready" to take the next step with our work and that we need a little more training. However, you can spend your whole life training and preparing for the next step only for you to wake up one morning and realize that you have never done anything. Sometimes, you have to take a risk, be bold and simply make a move. I walked out of that message with a challenge to myself -- a challenge that I would like to extend to you. Be bold -- go out and apply for fellowships, grants and enter competitions. Do not wait to learn everything before making a move to do something. Walk in faith -- faith in your abilities and faith in yourself.
I encourage you to attend a local Creative Mornings event (assuming you have one in your city or a nearby city) and tap into the creative community. So much inspiration just comes from being around other creatives and it will serve as a constant reminder to never forget your art.
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