Time To Create: Why Each One Of Us Should Strive To Be An Artist

Each of us possesses the ability to be an artist and to give the world something unique and beautiful. Being an artist doesn't mean you have to be great at drawing, painting or writing.

Art is something that the world has yet to experience and needs every bit of it to be able to breathe.

It allows us to embrace ourselves as individuals, to get in touch with our inner creativity and the indescribable feelings in our gut that make us appreciate who we are and every experience we come across.

Art allows us to get in touch with our true selves and put that reality on any platform we wish, from the human body to the design of an iPhone.

Being an artist allows us to appreciate life for what it is: a playground of stages to express our amazing creations, and to give the world something after all we have taken from it.

Each of us has been given a wonderful opportunity to express ourselves, and sometimes, it means looking no further than the notebook on your desk. Art is what makes the human race remarkable; we are able to produce breathtaking pieces of work, and leave our heart and soul in creations all around us before we die.

It’s time each and every one of us strives to be the artist we were meant to be. It’s not that easy, though. Being a good artist takes time, and it might just be the hardest thing you have ever done. What makes being an artist so hard is the ability to express yourself in your work.

Finding yourself and what matters to you can take just as much effort as learning how put your art on a platform. No one is going to be interested in your art if he or she can’t see the self-expression in it.

We were not born to be mediocre. We were also given hidden talents, like Derrick Rose’s ability to break ankles on the basketball court or Leonardo DiCaprio’s ability to produce unbelievable acting performances.

Problems arise, however, when we focus too much on our idols. It's good to look up to someone who has mastered the craft in which you want to take part, but it's dangerous to measure our success against others' and strive to follow in someone's exact footsteps.

This trap has been largely put in place because mass media makes us idolize art creators and not their ability to master self-expression. The worst part is that this idolization has made us unsuccessful when we thought just the opposite would happen.

We create replicas of what exists, not art in itself. For instance, where I live in Silicon Valley, the question for every entrepreneur is, who will be the next Steve Jobs? No one. He was unique, just like we all are.

We need to stop chasing other people's dreams and recognize our own. We need to find the sensation that comes with self-discovery and our own avenues for putting that feeling out into the world. Only then can we have people see us for who we truly are.

It’s more than just practice, though; it's vulnerability. Being vulnerable is scary because you open yourself up to criticism and even hate. The only way to connect with the people who will truly love you for who you are is to take on vulnerability and live fearlessly with your art.

There will always be those who are jealous or despise your work, and sometimes people will even stand in your way until the day you die.

It doesn't mean your art is bad, and it could very well be that you are becoming a great artist because, even with negative opinions, you have at least made people take notice.

If there were no risk, there would be no vulnerability. Opening your work to others allows people see you for more than just your physical appearance. It lets people connect with inner beauty, and that beauty has an unlimited potential.

How people perceive you based on your appearance can only go so far, while an amazing piece of artwork can stretch across the world and even through generations of time.

Vulnerability is as simple as being the first to say, "I love you." You open yourself up to rejection, but the art that is produced from a resulting relationship is ever so powerful. Even in rejection, you find out more about yourself, and the art created while moving on will be that much better.

Art is not something you have to learn to appreciatel; it's been there all along, and you have been creating it since your first breath. The problem is that art has been defined as something that must be taught, that holds a pattern and has specific footsteps to follow.

This has never been true and never will be. Self-expression knows no boundaries.

The words that come from your mouth only exist in the moment and can still be some of the finest art; just look at Martin Luther King's speeches that are still admired to this day and will be for generations to come.

We have continued to take so much that the world has to offer and have given so little back. We were meant to communicate our individuality through art so we could reinvest in a world that has provided us an infinite amount of outlets for its creation.

If we stay vulnerable and true to ourselves, what we create will undoubtedly be great.

Photo Courtesy: We Heart It