This is purely brilliant. From the author of Eat, Pray, Love. You can get a lot from her talk, but I related with the first 5-10 minutes the most. What she talks about there is the single most difficult thing I struggle with when I write silly stories, paint silly paintings and take silly photos. Creativity, chasing dreams and even engulfing yourself in true love... things that require you to put yourself out there, and stand out among the crowd. These ideas are squashed by so many, it seems, for fear of failure and eternal suffering.

A friend posted Kittens inspired by Kittens on her facebook profile, which brought a big smile to my face Quite creative, funny, adorably cute, so I responded as such. Two other people responded... "That little girl is whacko... she's going to have a very strange future" and "I see a therapist in her future....possible serial killer?"

About 6 years ago, I met a girl named Danielle. We hung out a couple of times, and she met my dog, and said, "You sure do like your dog... a lot... aren't you afraid you're going to be really sad when he dies?" For a little while after that, I really did worry about it - she has a point, you know. Luckily it quickly passed. My love for this animal has quadrupled every year since - and I'm happy to report that I'm not dying on the inside. When I got my first nice camera a couple of years ago, I dove into photography head first and was shooting weddings, random families/people, had some gigs with The Long Center, shooting motorcycle track events, etc. My dad has asked me a few times if anything I've done has sold, and once he followed up with, "You know, I tried that artist thing, too. It doesn't really work, you know." Dad doesn't talk very much, but when he does, his words often stick. For a little while, I heard that voice every time I picked up my camera. I don't anymore. Thank God.

People are just looking out for our best interests, it seems, but I might take it a little farther than that. I think it also speaks of peoples' own insecurities, that they are projecting onto others. Their own sense of perceived personal failure, then pushed on to someone else - they don't want to see the other person fail, but I they don't really want to see them succeed, either. Deep down, I think we all only want to see everyone succeed at everyting, but on the surface, accepting someone who chases after their artistic dreams and lives the creative process might imply that they should, themselves, be chasing their own dreams. But instead, they squash them in their own head, which leads to them projecting this and squashing others'. Fear governs too many peoples' lives, my own included (again, this is my biggest struggle) and this sort of negative feedback just perpetuates it. It plants a seed of fear inside us, that continues to grow until we're dark on the inside, and can no longer see our inner artist. Freedom of expression, freedom to feel like we are OK just as we are, that our thoughts, ideas and creations are truly magnificent, and that we can do whatever we want... that's where it's at. I mean, why should we live any other way? Fitting into a cookie-cutter role of a human in a sterile and desensitized world, for fear of ridicule or inevitable demise... no thanks. I couldn't imagine my life without my dog, regardless of how bad it is going to hurt when he dies, I really hope I don't have to explain that to anyone. To live without love of an animal for fear of losing it... to live without creating beautiful art, for fear of failure or ridicule... to put down another person's personal expression because you don't want to see them fail, or you're afraid of what it might imply about you... it's all so sad There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve - fear of failure.

I think there is a connection between the sense of feeling my brother setting up scenes in the world for me to photograph and "Ole Ole Ole!" Am I wrong? Maybe. Am I setting myself up for hurt? There's a good chance. Does my brother exist anywhere anymore? Maybe not. Will I ever take a good photograph? Who knows. Will people laugh and put me down about my silly paintings, stories and photos? Very likely. Will I grieve for years after my dog dies? You bet. And you know what? I wouldn't have any of it any other way - it's all perfectly OK. It comes with the territory of showing up, putting myself out there and doing my part. And that, my friends, is where it's at.

Here is the link to Elizabeth Gilbert's talk on Creative Genius