Defining Art For Yourself

"The artist is a receptacle for emotions
that come from all over the place: from the sky,
from the earth, from a scrap of paper,
from a passing shape, from a spider's web"
~Pablo Picasso

How often have we valued our creative results based on the definitions of others regarding art, the meaning of art, or it's worth? I've been a victim of this toxic comparison on more than one occasion, for sure, and it's a worm that settles in the heart and begins to slither into our creative process, much to our own detriment.

I'm here to tell you that art is undefinable, an intangible experience and process that captures the essence of our own journey. Who can place value on our own journey but ourselves? We can create, we can hope that our art is a representation of our life, in whatever small or large ways, and if others appreciate the process, great. If they do not, it is not a reflection on our skill, our time, our emotional and physical investment. It's not a reflection of our individual finish lines, or how we chose to reach them, nor how long it takes us to do so.

Art is a reflection of our souls. It is the embodiment of every experience we've ever endured or celebrated. It is, to state it plainly, a mirror through which we view ourselves. No one else deserves the right to judge the reflection in that mirror, but should honor it as a courageous badge of self-expression.

When the value of your art is threatened by the opinions of others, remind yourself that you are the master of your own creation. I am not talking about skill, refinement, or the ability to "sell it". I am talking about using art as a spiritual awakening... a knock on the door of divinity, if I may indulge myself in mysticism for a moment. That is a relationship which, ultimately, only has two parties... you and the power you give it.

Don't give negativity your power. Don't allow others to devalue your journey. Take back your personal power and walk through the doubts of others like shadows... dark for a moment, but gone the next. Let every experience you have speak to you through the things you create, in whatever manner they may manifest, and continue the experience on your own terms. You are a priestess of art, the magician of intangible moments, even if those moments are as small as a spider's web. Find meaning in everything, and express that meaning for you, before all else. And definitely, always, eternally, love it fully as a reminder of your journey.