Reignite

Extroverts, Introverts, Ambiverts, whoever you are, you all experience the very familiar feeling of exhaustion. Not just physical exhaustion but entire emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. It's that moment when you can't get out of bed because your body is so tired, you can't cry because your emotions are deadened, and you can't think because your brain has shut down. If you are an introvert and you feel low, you lock yourself up in your room and read a book. If you're an extrovert and you feel low, you find some friends and make a memory. Both simple and effective solutions. But, for me, at this stage of complete and utter exhaustion, creating is the thing that energizes.

If you feel numb, then turn back to a hobby or occupation that always makes you feel something. Return to what you love, because it loves you too. What you love isn't only there for the good times. That wouldn't quite be love, would it? Art is there when you're alone and don't know what else to do. It takes a lot of willpower to get out of that bed and go outside, but it only takes a little bit of willpower to grab a notebook and pen and write a poem in your bed. It's a little bit of sacrifice for a lot of results.

It can jumpstart your emotions when they feel dried up, because pursuing your passion will always reignite your passion. It can exercise your brain both in times when you hit a creative wall and don't know what else to do with your story, your sketch, or your dance and also when your thoughts are moving faster than the speed of the pen. It can even help your physical exhaustion, which is usually a side-effect of emotional or mental exhaustion. And all of this comes with the simple drive of returning to what you love.

What ignited your desire for a particular art form in the first place? Because every time you return to it, your passion will be reignited, even stronger than before. You are a flame, constantly in motion, ever changing, and every time you neglect the things you love, the embers die down. The moment you feel exhausted is the moment the flame has grown so small that you can see it no longer, and all that is left is to feel meaningless.

Have you felt this moment before? I have. It's not an evil moment, however. Because without the fading of the flame, the glorious reigniting of the passion wouldn't be as captivating or beautiful.

I think the best part is stepping back and taking in what you've created, allowing the melody to resonate or the paint to dry. You should be proud. Even in a time of complete apathy, you created something beautiful. That's something to be proud of and take joy in. It's a lot easier to sleep at night knowing that you did something good that day, that you created something worthwhile. Especially if it's something that might inspire someone else. That's worthwhile. Don't let that feeling fade.

But even if you do...you'll get the joy of reigniting it all over again.

Freedom to Fail

Cheers to all the perfectionists.

If you don't know what that means, you aren't one. A perfectionist is someone who demands perfection in themselves and especially in their work. At the worst case scenario, a perfectionist can also demand perfection in their surroundings, environment, and friends, and it can become crippling. At the best, a perfectionist can nearly drop a project entirely when they make a mistake.

If you know you're a perfectionist, it's probably because you've heard people say "just let it go" and "why is this bugging you?" or even "it's not that big of a deal" all your life. Why? Because at the core of perfectionism, your standard for excellence is higher than your peers, and they just don't understand that. Before I go on with the dangers of perfectionism, I want you to hear me: don't you ever lower your standard for excellence. It's high for a reason. Because you are the only one that can reach that height. It's not an unattainable goal, and it certainly won't be perfect, but it's excellence. Be proud of that.

Now, perfectionism can also be paralyzing. Either an idea never moves from your mind because you are too afraid to put mistake-caked hands to a perfect image in your mind, or the idea moves to creation, and there has already been a mistake. The former is a paralyzing fear of failure, and the second is a devastating reality of failure. I don't know from where the idea of perfection came in our society, but there is a simple cure. In fact, the cure is the ailment: mistakes.

You don't have to be perfect.

If you want to make art perfect, then you are in the wrong field. Art is a firsthand representation of humanity, and humanity, you guessed it, is flawed. Therefore, art will have mistakes. Do you think Da Vinci didn't make a mistake when he painted the Mona Lisa, that his hand didn't shake at least once? The reason the Mona Lisa exists is because Da Vinci allowed the possibility of mistakes and created something beautiful, a famous masterpiece. He also had years of experience which is a fancy way of saying, he made some mistakes. By that point, he knew how to deal with the mistakes or how to not make them. Being a master at something doesn't mean you never make mistakes, it only means you know what to do when you encounter them.

Perfectionism is a gift and a curse. You will fight for all you can to reach that standard of excellence, but you have to be okay with not being perfect. In other words, make a mistake. I guarantee you, if you make a mistake, it will either end up being the most significant piece of your masterpiece that you wouldn't change for the world or you will simply learn from it and move on. You don't have to make mistakes, but you are allowed to.

So pick up that novel you've been working on, that painting you've been thinking about, or that tune you've been humming. Then go to your safe place, close the door, and create. In that room, there is no judgement. You can make whatever mistake you want, and it's not any less art than when you began. It's amazing what you'll find you can do behind closed doors. You discover the freedom to fail. And something beautiful emerges--it always does.

And then, when you've mastered the freedom to fail, open the door, let the world in...

And fail some more.

Soliloquy for Curiosity

Curiosity’s Soliloquy

By Kim Camacho

"I remember her like a sunset.

Vibrant in color and mysterious in form.

Here, for a painted moment.

A mere brushstroke of enthrallment.

And then as quick as she lit up, so natural and bright,

she fell into the horizon of red, blue and starry dreams.

And with the strength of an eagle, flew far, far away into the golden hue of opportunity.

I watched as humble sight-seeing became violent vision matches.

As the universe became a racetrack of panthers with asses for heads.

How the wisest and boldest of men became the prey of the money-bagging hyenas; watching, waiting for contraptions of genius to spur out of the flower pot heads, only then to be plucked out from the stem to the roots; Leaving barely any soil left for planting new seeds of thought.

I saw the sculptured ideas of artists become the constructed advertisements for illusionists.

I watched a beautiful idea become transformed by the possibility addict and his companion, the boldness junkie.

Adventure became manipulating women who allowed for no wrong turns.

Conversation has become an electric fruit that Eve and Adam couldn’t even resist.

And the world has learned to be content with the plastic, medicated joy and drunken success they think they have achieved. But worst of all, I have become a distant memory.

My love doesn’t even think about me any more.

She is too consumed in facts and logic and information that she has forgotten the source of those elements.

She has forgotten that all those are paths not destinations. And they lead to an idea not an item.

My love tells answers rather than seeks truth.

And truth is the only way to make a thought an idea.

Truth makes books into stories.

Paintings into feelings.

Technology into advancements.

Truth is also the only way to discern between a fact and a lie.

Truth is a beautiful enlightenment, and my love is lacking this beacon of life.

I can see it in her plastered face and famined form.

In her hopeless eyes and deafened ears.

I see how you hurt my love, and oh how I wish I could go back to that shore where you first appeared on the horizon.

Full of vibrance and innocent rays of warmth.

So much hope in your pure face.

You may not know, but it was at this moment that I came to be.

I am yours. You brought out the best in every part of me.

And killed everything I was.

But I still love you.

And you can bring it back, my twisted moon dance.

My peculiar masterpiece.

My intriguing perception.

You can bring my glory back if you wish.

Only if you wish.

But ah, my darling, I cannot make you.

It is your decision and yours alone.

You have allowed me to fade in the darkness as the poison of contorted notions has overtaken your light.

I cannot make you shine, I cannot give you joy, I cannot exist in a state of “okay.”

I can only live if there is a longing and something to long for.

And when there’s nothing to long for, nothing to discover, no truth to be learned…

Then I, your precious and ever waiting, curiosity, must remain in the shadows. Until I once again shine brighter than the darkness."

New Year's Every Day

"May every sunrise hold more promise and may every sunset hold more peace."

Now is the allotted time every American understands; Christmas is past, and New Years Day is around the corner. Do you have any resolutions?

Or maybe the question is, what type of New Year's celebrator are you? You might be one of those people who lives for resolutions (whether you finish them or not is an entirely different matter), or you might not care for them at all. Whichever you are, it is not about the resolutions. At the core of New Year's, the concept is simply that the year is about to be over, and you have a blank canvas in front of you. You can paint whatever you want. New Year's is just an idea that...

Change is possible. If you don't like something about yourself, change it. But rather than making a resolution to stop doing something, make a resolution to start doing something that counteracts what you don't like about yourself. Instead of stopping wasting your time with one activity, make a resolution to every time you want to do that thing, you read a book instead or go on a walk.

But it's not that easy, is it? As human beings, the one thing you can count on is the devoted promise that we make mistakes. So I am here to propose the idea that maybe New Year's isn't just on one day, that you don't get just one chance to be who you want to be, but a hundred, a thousand, a million. Every day is a new day, a smaller blank canvas waiting for you to create who you are. You have a countless amount of new chances and opportunities in front of you, so that you can keep making mistakes until you get it right. And you will, especially with help.

So this next year, New Year comes every day.

Don't give up. Make those resolutions or not but always remember that each day is a new chance with new opportunities and new choices to make. You alone decide who you want to be. Take it one step at a time, one day at a time; don't tackle the entire empty mural of a year but take the days one canvas at a time until the mural is complete. It will be hard but do not give up. If no one else tells you in this death-filled world, I am proud of you. You can do anything, because at the start of a new day, there is the promise that anything is possible, and at the end of that new day, there is the peace that you did your absolute best. At the start of a new day, you can be whoever you want to be. So why wait until one midnight?

New Year's starts today.

Imagination Is

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." - Albert Einstein

Too much pressure is put upon those from the ages of elementary school through college to be "smart." You cannot argue that some of the only things gained from school are fleeting, random pieces of knowledge. In school, you memorize formulas or learn how to write, but you never learn why the formula is there or what to write. Knowledge only goes so far, and most of the criteria learned in school is simply that: knowledge.

However, while knowledge is taught, imagination is not. It is instinctive; you just do it. It is a gift every person bears, but it is never honed, sharpened. On the contrary, imagination withers when essays have to be structured exactly like this, the formula cannot be any other way, etc. There is no room for creativity anymore. Instead of praising a creative effort, a student who decides to be different from the rest is failed.

But was it not imagination that gave us the very practical things enjoyed today like electricity or computers? Imagination is not a passive idea but the very blood of innovation. It is active, and the more you strengthen that muscle of your brain, the more your imagination will grow beyond even your wildest imagination.

This is not a call to arms against school but rather a plea to bring the curriculum of imagination into schools. Teach students how to better express their emotions onto the page, guide them through the practical discernment of when best to utilize imagination in everyday life, and allow them the opportunity to realize that the left brain and the right brain were meant to go hand in hand. Imagination and Knowledge are not enemies but brothers. Without knowledge, imagination is nonsense; without imagination, knowledge is crippled.

Even Einstein, a world famous scientist understood how important imagination is. Yes, knowledge is good, but knowledge is limited. Knowledge is the facts. Knowledge is the what. Imagination is the how, the why. Imagination is every dream. Imagination is every possibility. Imagination is absolutely endless. Imagination encircles the world.

If a person empowers his imagination, there is no stopping them. When we were kids, we believed we could fly. We believed we could do anything. We can return to that once again.

Dream impossible dreams. Reach for impossible heights. It's time to start believing again.

Do you believe you can do anything?

I believe I can, but maybe that's just my imagination.

Infinitely Minute

"Painting is an infinitely minute part of my personality." - Salvador Dali

It's important to find who you are and what makes you happy; however, the worst thing you can do is limit yourself. Too many people make the thing they love their entire life, and when that very things fails them, they look around at their life and find a broken trail of missed opportunities.

As adults, we ask kids what they want to be, instantly confining their entire future to a box. Essentially, we ask them who they want to be when, instead, who they are is a collection of a thousand desires.

What you do is not who you are.

It is only a part of you, a smaller part of you than you realize. Dali himself, a renowned surrealist painter, realized that painting was not his identity. He knew that the very thing he loved and the thing for which he was famous was only a speck on the spectrum of who he was.

So why do we limit ourselves? You don't have to just do one thing; you can do everything. Why not? What are you waiting for? You are an endless collection of hopes and fears, dreams and nightmares. You have a lot more in you than you realize. Stop making a section of your personality your entire being. You don't have to give up a hobby for your dream. You don't have to cut out sections of your life to make room for another, drastically inflated section.

Be a writer who ventures on nature walks to feed the birds. Be a dancer who visits art galleries regularly. Be a photographer who reads plays. My favorite parts of myself are not the things I do for a living but the things I do in silence. There is so much more to me than anyone will realize; you have the same potential in you as well.

Maybe if you take the time to discover the entire spectrum of your personality, you'll find something new about yourself.

And then you can keep on creating, fulfilling each infinitely minute part of you one day at a time.

Every Artist His Muse

"Every King needs his Queen; every Artist his Muse."

For some reason the assumption of artists is that they are separate from society and must work alone. This could not be further from the truth. Yes, sometimes separation is necessary, but it is this very "society" that inspires artists to create. Even Henry David Thoreau escaped the social world only to write about it in his book Walden. Whether someone is constantly trying to be with people or avoid people, they are inspired by those very people. At the heart, artists create a form of life, and in that endeavor, one must understand life.

There are "solo artists," but are they really "solo"? They have people who help record their songs, play with them, and sell their work. They need a partnership.

Whether or not you realize it, you need people. Even if you do not believe anything that was said above, there is still one other relationship that sparks creativity. The unseen spectator known as the audience. Their part is not a passive one; it is active. They bring "the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus add their contribution to the creative act," as Marcel Duchamp says. As an artist, you raise questions, and questions are meant to be answered. That is the audience's job. They are your collaborators, and you need them as much as they need you. It is a beautiful partnership. Human beings are relationship-driven, so why can't art be?

You weren't meant to be alone.

Cole Porter had Linda Lee Thomas. Picasso had Adriana. Robert Frost had Elinor Frost.

Find someone who understands your blend of tortured joy in creating art and do not ever let them go. 

They are your muse.