Billy Elliot

I went to see Billy Elliot The Musical after waiting about a year for its arrival in town. I own the DVD on which it is based and I have watched it many, many times. Some changes they made from the film were so powerful!

It is the story of a 12-year-old boy who lives in a mining town in England. Most of the men in the town are miners. His father is a miner, his brother is a miner ... As you can imagine, it does not go over too well when the family discovers his secret: he has an extraordinary talent, and desire, to be a ballet dancer!

One of the things that has always inspired me about this story is the conviction Billy had at such a young age! He was going to hold onto to his dream despite tremendous pressures not to. He tapped into that inner strength that we as artists and creative people do have, even if we have to dust it off and nourish it a lot over time before it breaks out in full force.

risk then success

World renowned actor, Denzel Washington, gave a commencement speech at a University on May 16, 2011 that every artist and creative person should hear. It was inspirational, powerful and undeniably true. After you watch the video of his speech at this link, and ponder the hard-earned wisdom he shared straight from the heart, post a comment here on my blog and tell me that I was right. I love being right. :)   https://youtu.be/2sHc581qEQc

You can read his speech also and print it by going to the link below. 

http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v57/n34/comm-washington.html

the need for change

"The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind."

- Dr. Maya Angelou

painting is

Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen. 
- Leonardo da Vinci

Sometimes a simple quote says so much!

be a lion

It takes a lot of courage just to be an artist or creative person, more than most people realize. I wonder how many of you give yourself credit for daring to just communicate something in the way you want. On YouTube.com, I saw videos related to "Be A Lion", the fantastic song from the Broadway musical hit, "The Wiz", and this ran through my mind afterward. As a creative person, you run the risk of getting back insensitive comments from people who wouldn't know talent if it kicked them ... but you also receive acknowledgments, even gratitude, from people whose lives you affected in some positive way: a smile in their day, an inspiration, a desperately needed hope ... I think it's worth the risk!

it is just their opinion

When I was taking art lessons, I had future plans to paint a lot. Then I went to a seminar by a successful art gallery owner who asserted that if you don't know the world of modern art and understand what other painters are doing, you're going to fail. Well, I fell for that one hook, line and sinker! I reasoned that since I knew of no dictionaries or glossaries to define the modern art terms that are tossed around, and since the modern art world had no clearly defined standards of excellence or beauty that I could reach for, I decided that the endeavor was hopeless. I soon stopped going to art classes and basically gave up. This is so unlike me: I am tenacious when I want to reach a goal, especially when it is art related, but for some reason, this gallery owner's OPINION sounded close enough to THE TRUTH that I believed him.

Years later, I attended a seminar by a watercolor artist who makes 6 figures a year by creating her art, thus she dissolved the concept of "starving artist" for me. Also, she said that she shunned gallery owners, preferring to sell directly to people at art shows, all the while building her mailing list. She also had a very different opinion about the art world: that the paintings you create, and put strong emotion in, are far more important than understanding the art world. According to her, your paintings are the priority, not the networking. Her opinion felt much, much, much better and listening to her INCREASED my desire to paint. That's how you know who's opinion to accept or consider. Listening to a valuable opinion makes you want to create more, not less. Even constructive criticism should be just that, constructive: something that builds you up, not tears you down.

Now, I want to ask you a question. Did something like what happened to me when I listened to that art gallery owner happen to you at some time or another? Did some artist, some art teacher, some celebrity, some successful person, some family member, some loved one, some group of people, or some book convince you that you could not, or should not, create the effects YOU wanted to create with your art or other creative endeavor? If this happened and you went into agreement with their negative opinion, I can practically guarantee you that is the point when your interest in your art or creative activity lessened, maybe lessened a lot!

Be very selective about whose opinions you take to heart. The only person who has the right to decide what effect you will create with your art or creative activity is YOU! Even if you need proper, or better, instruction; even if you need more practice; even if you have to go to an environment where you are more appreciated. The Internet could make that last part easy, but long before the Internet, Josephine Baker decided that she was a star and since the USA was not yet ready for a Black woman to be a star, she went to Paris and became the star she already knew she was. But she decided what her dreams were, she didn't let anyone else decide for her. (In case you're not familiar with Josephine Baker: "before Madonna, before Marilyn, there was Josephine". That's on the DVD cover of the cable TV movie based on her life.)

You are as entitled to your opinion as anyone else. If they say, "You can't", you have every right to reply, "Watch me!"

Emotional Support for Your Art or Creativity

In this short video clip, Writing Coach Jurgen Wolff speaks about a vital subject often not addressed. He talks about how to get emotional support from those people around you for your writing, but what he says applies to any creative activity that you are doing. As creative people, we all need emotional support. That does not make us less independent, it makes us human.

Feed your creative side

My paranormal novel, "Imagining Things", will soon be published. It's a novel about the rewards for following your intuition — and the punishments for ignoring it. I invite you to visit my website http://www.aaronvictorvaughn.com/ to read an excerpt.

To say that the release of this novel will be a dream come true for me does not even begin to tell it!

I'd like to say something to my fellow creative people and to anyone who enjoys creativity. While most adults living in modern societies would not forget to eat for several days, some let their creativity starve for days, months, even years without giving it much thought, as if it's okay. We all loose something if you don't bring forth your creativity because there is only one you and no one can create that song, that book, that painting, that business venture, that inspirational talk just like you. You bring to it all of your wisdom and insight and experience which is one of a kind combination that is irreplaceable!

Famed painter Pablo Picasso made an excellent point when he said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."

During the holidays, we often give our creativity permission to come out and play. We let it breathe. We decorate or cook with flair, we wrap presents and place them under beautifully decorated trees. We often go out of our way to create beautiful moments with loved ones and strangers, too. Then we often pack our creativity away as if its expression has reached some type of time limit. Well, I'm here to tell you that time limit is self-imposed. Please cancel it! Make this new year comfortably and beautifully creative. Feed your creative side. Don't postpone your joy another minute. You'll be happier, and we all get to benefit, too!

Find Your Strongest Life

This information from career coach Marcus Buckingham could be good for what ails you!

http://www.oprah.com/article/money/career/pkgstrongestlife/20091005-orig-marcus-strong-life-plans

Also, if you have iTunes on your computer, you can download two free video podcasts from Marcus Buckingham called Trombone Player Wanted, “Chapter 1 – So what’s stopping you?” and “Chapter 2 - Do you know what your strengths are?” (If you are unfamiliar with them, podcasts are like radio broadcasts you can hear, or view, over the Internet.) These two free video podcasts are about 15 minutes each. They are very enlightening and very empowering, especially for creative people, or those who would like to be more creative.

If you don’t have iTunes on your computer, you can download it free. Here’s the link:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

"And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in the bud became more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin

Here’s to new dreams and a new decade to enjoy them!

money, it flows too

The subject of money is crass to some artists, but artists gotta eat. And the words "artist" and "starving" should never be in the same sentence! Along that line, here are some references that I found extraordinarily informative on the subject of money. Some of this information can even make the subject - dare I say it - painless and interesting. As I find out about more items of interest, I'll add them to the list below.

"Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That The Poor and Middle Class Do Not!" by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon Lechter
http://www.richdad.com/

"Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter With Your Money" by Robert T. Kiyosaki
http://www.richdad.com/

Play the Cashflow game online for free - How To Get Out of the Rat Race. Also purchase the Cashflow 101 Board Game and Cashflow For Kids Board Game.
http://www.richdad.com/Rich-Dad-Games/CASHFLOW

"The Science of Getting Rich" by Wallace D. Wattles, is profoundly spiritual and profoundly practical at the same time. You can download a free e-book version by going to http://www.TheSecret.tv/ Click on "Gifts For You" in the menu, then scroll down the page.

In a book which was a course in career design for creative people, the author made an excellent point: it's not the desire for money that is bad, it is what you are willing to exchange for that money that determines whether the desire is good or bad. Some people give up their integrity, their dignity, their happiness, the happiness of loved ones, their own true hopes and dreams, even their lives for money. In those cases the desire for money is an insane lust. (And in those cases, I'm not speaking of people so broke and hungry that they are just trying to survive; I'm speaking of those who do have other choices which they could just as easily make.)

Now, in contrast, let's take someone like Oprah Winfrey, one of the richest and most influential people on the planet, whose altruism and philanthropy is as famous as she is. I'm sure Oprah could not have attained her billionaire status if she did not have a desire for wealth, but at the same time, she is an example of how one could behave with money. Someone with wealth does not have to be a miser, or someone who uses money to destructive ends.

Money is value neutral; the desire for money is value neutral. What one exchanges for money or what one does with money once it's acquired determines the morality of the financial situation.

On a related subject, most people never learned financial management. Their parents didn't know it and the grade schools don't teach it. The result is a mass of people who worsen their financial situations (often unnecessarily) because they don't know what to do with money when they get it. The cashflows, of the middle class particularly, tend to be, if I may use a technical term, wacky! "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" was written to increase financial literacy, and I can tell you personally, it certainly did accomplish that with me.