I ran across this blog piece titled Advice,whose intended audience is aspiring photographers but I do find it useful for creative people of all endeavors. A few of the authors thoughts which struck accord with me are:
-- Style is a voice, not a prop or an action. If you can buy it, borrow it, download it, or steal it, it is not a style. Don’t look outward for your style; look inward.
-- Never apologize for your own sense of beauty. Nobody can tell you what you should love. Do what you do brazenly and unapologetically. You cannot build your sense of aesthetics on a consensus.
-- Never compare your journey with someone elses. It’s a marathon with no finish line. Someone else may start out faster than you, may seem to progress more quickly than you, but every runner has his own pace. Your journey is your journey, not a competition. You will never “arrive”. No one ever does.
-- Embrace frustration. It pushes you to learn and grow, broadens your horizons, and lights a fire under you when your work has gone cold. Nothing is more dangerous to an artist than complacency.
I share this photo of mine, taken at Council Crest Park, of a statue sculpted by Frederic Littmann. It is a mother and child and shows the joy of it all...