The world seems to be getting more and more cutthroat. Sure, there are more opportunities, greater technology to reach a bigger audience, but it also seems more difficult?...daunting?...harder to leave your mark?
Think about it: it seems that everyone has their own etsy shop. Everyone dabbles in photography, art, or making some kind of product. If youre a blogger, someone has already written it (and they wrote it better). I feel like the arts are becoming like Mary Kay. Everyone's selling it, so where's the opportunity for someone to leave their mark?
Ok, so artistic styles differ compared to standard Mary Kay products, but the concept feels the same. The doubts are the same - what's different about what I have to offer? It's enough to make me want to give up before I've even started.
Yet, as human beings, we all have an innate desire - or even a need - to create. Whether it's a piece of art, a photo, a meal, an accessory, an item of clothing, a song, we all want to create something that didn't exist before. We want to leave our mark. But...what do we do when there is no more room on the canvas that is life. Or when all the marks on it seem the same that ours won't even stand out? How do we make our voices heard? How do we continue to create when every message we hear tells us "why bother"?
I think what I want to know most of all is, what even is my voice? What do I want to leave the world? Am I a writer, an artist, a craftsperson, a photographer, a stylist, a chef, a DIY queen?
To echo Sondheim, "what I want most of all is to know what I want."
