lightening up

First off, I wish I could write about my job and the people it puts me in contact with because they and the circumstances I find myself in are way more interesting than me. But that's just off limits. And besides, this is a blog about art and life; in particular mine, as boring/ exciting or weird/normal as it may be.

So I am returning from another invigorating trip to NY City and I am sitting in my train seat just amazed and humbled by the amount of creative talent in the world. And especially in awe of the risk- takers. Those who are so confident in their ideas and expressions that they put everything aside to "go for it" and they just...don't...give...up.

Usually, maybe always, these people have a conviction that what they are doing is somehow helpful to mankind. Whether it is a graffiti artist (thank you shepard ferey and others for waking/shaking us up) or the substitute junior high school teacher who used to teach us about the extinction of the Dodo bird (no matter if he was subbing math,French, or history), we depend on our convictions and passions to keep us fully alive and present.

I really don't know what my convictions are except to live my life as an artist; to inspire and spark something in you and me. How that manifests itself is still a mystery to me. Is it through traditional 2D work? Public art? teaching/sharing with children? or working in a non-profit?

Maybe its just a way of being? This excerpt from Tricycle magazine sums it up beautifully:

"When a candle is lit in a dark room, it illuminates the room to some extent, but its power is limited. But if you use the same candle to light another candle, the total lightness increases."

Maybe I just need to lighten up...