Create Something!

22 months ago I started writing this. Coming up on two years, I couldn't be more pleased with the results. I mean, no book deal yet, but still quite content. One of the results of my ambition in writing is this, a brilliant show-all be-all fashion for cheap blog, keeping you up to date on fashion trends while saving your budget. Even further, saves her own budget by featuring herself and close friends as models. Even if you're not big into fashion, there are still some awesome pictures to ogle, mostly taken by the author herself. One of her features is on a starting out musician and friend who has recently recorded a bunch of songs as part of the acoustic rock genre. While I've only dabbled in his music, it's clear that his sound and writing has staying power.

I bring up these two because along with my own endeavor in this blog, they both had a passion that was lying dormant, and instead of quietly watch them float away, they put in the effort to create something they could be proud of. This might end up paralleling my complacency post, but this time there are real results and real services. Yes, I write for myself, but the main reason I write is for others. If I help even 5 people tackle just one life dilemma, I consider my writing a success. As for my friends, I'm sure they have a sense of personal accomplishment and are proud of what they've done, but Fauxshionable is meant to help others, and Tyler's music was meant to reach out to listeners. We might be self-promoting, talking craft, creating Facebook pages, and doing everything we can to make ourselves seem more popular, but I can assure you, it stems from the desire to reach more people and help to change even the smallest portion of culture. As Chuck Palahniuk wrote, "the goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that does." That's what we're doing, as artists. And if what we've done influences a dozen people, the world is forever changed, and that's inspiration enough to keep on doing what we're doing.

Will these things launch us into stardom, strutting the red carpet in Hollywood, going to Catalina Wine Mixers? Probably not. Do we secretly hope that they do? I think that's safe to say. But would we stop creating now if you told us that we'll never be recognized by anyone besides friends and family? I know I wouldn't.

When I wrote about always wanting to take piano lessons, similar ideas were discussed. There was something that I thought fell by the waste side years ago because my parents (dad) got me playing 'baseball' when I was 5. (Just kidding with the baseball in quotes, it was the right choice.) But as you've surely read, I now own a keyboard and have taken the first steps to learning the craft. But that's about 95% personal goal and personal reward, the spare five percent coming from entertaining the crowd at dinner parties, of course. Motivating yourself to pursue something that will really only impact you can be challenging. But once an audience is created, once a 'service' is provided, once you understand your role in changing and influencing others with something you created, it can be exciting. It thrills me if someone comments on something I write. Not because I need the kudos, but because I know that I just positively impacted someone else's life.

So aside from promoting my good friends Whitney and Tyler, this is another kick in the ass to anyone sitting on a passion and neglecting it for any reason, be it time, money, or doubt. It's worth it to try. It's worth it to take a chance. If not for you, do it for the people that it might affect.