Risk

There is risk here, in our creative world. We sing with our mouths half-closed for hear someone might hear us. We walk towards a goal, but our body language says part of us is unengaged in the journey. We think about writing the book and suddenly cleaning the closet seems urgently important. We write songs that we feel no one hears, and it seems like the doors to the music industry (or whatever other entity we are trying to infiltrate) are firmly closed.

But there are people who are Making It. Yes, of course, the ones you hear on the radio, and see on tv, the ones getting the grammys and the junos and the book awards. But there are many more who are actually Making It by going outside the lines. Thinking outside the box. Forgetting what is "traditional" and stepping out. They take a huge risk. They might fall, they might fail. They sacrifice financially for a time. Often their lives are an open book. Like me, writing my blog, they share their journey & their struggle to Become with an audience of thousands.

Here are people whose stories have inspired me recently:

Jonathan Coulton
http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/61785/how-to-become-a-rock-star

Leo Babauta
http://zenhabits.net/2007/02/my-story/

John Taglieri
http://johntaglieri.com/bio.html

Each of these people take chances. They invest time & ongoing, daily effort into their vision. And it's paying off. I'll bet there are times, when the bills are due & creativity seems unreachable, when they think of quitting. I'll bet there have been times when their friends and family thought they are crazy. But they continue to put it out there, and learn, and listen, and work on their skills.

And perhaps they also take joy in the journey. Because the aim of life is not to get 'there', but to be 'here'.