Are we Really Dedicated to Our Creative Lives?

Are you fully committed to this creative life you want to have? Are you 100% vested?

I thought I was for the last ten years of my life as I worked toward where I am today, but I asked myself the question over the last few weeks? What is it that I really, really wanted to do with this creative life of mine? What has called me to my life purpose? Well there are many things but the one thing that I always came back to was writing.

I was so afraid of having no money that I kept chasing the dollar versus chasing my dreams and doing whatever it took to accomplish them.

As I study Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Big Magic - she speaks of taking "The Vow."  Much like a nun or a priest takes a vow to serve God in that particular vocation. Have we taken The Vow with our writing, our painting, our sculpting, our blogging? our businesses?  Businesses?  Did you find that odd that I included that?

Well, to many people,creating a business is an art form and are as dedicated to it as artists are to their craft.

As I pondered this question and went into my meditations with that in my mind, everything became very clear. I must write and I must publish, no matter what.  I made a decision to have this be the forefront of my life and I made a promise and intended that I would find a way to financially support my writing life and myself.  No matter what I had to do.

Yes, this is a very different life than I had one year ago, but I wake up everyday, looking forward to taking pen in hand and letting the words flow to me. It's the first thing I think about in the morning and it's the last thing I think about before I go to bed.

Here is a quote from this chapter in her book,

                        I did not ask for any external reward for my devotion; 

                            I just wanted to spend my life as near to writing as possible- 

                                     forever close to that source of all my curiosity 
                   
                       and contentment - and so I was willing to make whatever 

                                 arrangements needed to be made in order to get by.  

Commit to your dreams my friends! Do not let them die with you!

Kimberley