Allowing yourself

Even though I prioritize the creative time in the workshop as much as possible and in fact gradually manage to live my days as I imagine I would if I had already achieved some (commercial) success, I still find it incredibly difficult to be honest when someone asks me what I am.

Just can't bring myself to answer artist.

Allowing yourself is also allowing others.
Doing something you have never done before also makes it easier for those next in line who might want to try.

The funny thing is. . .

Realizing yourself as a creative artist is not about putting a lot on stage, or trying to be someone other than who you are. Not at all. It is precisely the opposite: being honest and true to yourself and daring to show your true, vulnerable face.

Of course, this is also why it is so damn uncomfortable.

It's one thing to fail in all inconspicuousness, where no one knows what kind of ambitions you have that never really end up coming to fruition. In that case, nothing is lost. Immediately far, far worse if the project falls to the ground in broad daylight; to be laughed at and be seen as the town clown. No one wants to put themselves through that.

On the other hand, you have to be honest and say that if things never get worse, it will probably all go well. No one has ever literally died of making fun of themselves. You have to man up and remind yourself that as an artist you are actually working in the service of a good cause.

Allowing yourself is also allowing others.

Doing something you have never done before also makes it easier for those next in line who might want to try.

Insisting on the right to create one's own stories helps others do the same—and that in a world where too many people are typically busy doing the opposite.

That will be the words from here for now. I want to give myself the green light to call myself a creative artist, and thus also allow you, dear reader, to do the same.