One step into the unknown

When one is stuck, the instinct is to look for someone to escape this jam. Rarely do we think to pick ourselves. It is not because we are not capable of doing what needs to be done. It is because there is comfort without having to go it alone. When you pick yourself, there is no one else to blame. You have to take the responsibility, the consequences, and the credit.

What we can do is have enough light to take one step into the dark. Then another. And then another. Pretty soon, you will be on your way.

I don’t know how often I have given this advice to non-profit founders or clients. But there is something about the quiet assurance, “You can do this,” that can be enough to get going. It is incredible what a couple of steps forward can change our whole mindset. You don’t see yourself at one moment as doing what needs to be done, and then the next, you are that person. All that it takes to be an artist is to make art. That’s it. Go.