I’ve always been convinced that artists are like scientists studying life on a planet filled with wonders, constantly analyzing the play of light, or how colors react to one another, how silhouettes create abstract shapes, and why all of these combinations when mixed and stirred and applied just so, can unchain emotional reactions of absolute joy and wonder. Whether the final dish served is an abstract, a da Vinci quality human form, or a playful burst of color that coalesces from a distance into a flower, we are all drawn to different types of art, just as every artist I know sees, mixes, and applies color in a slightly different way. Every artist is a unique lens to the world. By creating what is around us in another form, we celebrate and promote and stand up for Mother Earth, but, more importantly, we are feeding something deep within that drives us to create.

There are few things more positive than dedicating your life toward creating something beautiful. Creating in the face of self-doubt, applying the brush to the canvas even though you fear what will or will not happen at the end of the day, painting even if you are quite certain you are not da Vinci, is a push toward the light. And any movement toward light is a hand held high against the dark.

As I’m writing today, the world prepares for a total eclipse. An artist named Mary is about to begin her first painting. She wrote to me this morning that she is building her courage to apply her brush for the first time to canvas. Mary is about to become an artist. It’s who you are, most likely, if you read this blog. Whether you want to shout it to the world, or whisper it to your friends after a glass of wine, you are one of those rare creatures in this world who is here to make it better. Surround yourself with teachers, friends and loved ones who recognize and celebrate this quality in you and who do not tear it down. You deserve nothing less, you beautiful, extraordinary earthling, you!