“My life has been my music, it’s always come first, but the music ain’t worth nothing if you can’t lay it on the public.”
Louis Armstrong, via MoveMe Quotes
Artists look at their paintings and think: Ugh, those strokes.
Writers read their paragraphs and think: Ugh, those words.
Actors watch their performances and think: Ugh, those scenes.
The people those gifts weren’t intended for think: Ugh, why this?
The people those gifts were intended for think: Wow, thank you for this.
The people who never receive your gifts think: …
Well… nothing at all—what they see instead is an unexpressed, mysterious, doubt-filled person.
And what a poor replacement for what could have been a gift to the world.
Share your art.
Not when you look at your art and think: Wow, that’s perfect.
But, when you look at your art and think: Ugh, it’s not perfect, but it’s damn good.
Because sharing your art is how you share your self.
And who you are is an imperfect, ever-changing, highly-emotional being—
—Who is putting a fragment of themself out into the world as a gift.
A gift that says I’m human—maybe you’re human, too, and we can connect over this fragment?
Not everyone will. But, the ones who do?
The ones who do will change your thought processes; your direction; your art; your life.
And maybe your gifts will do the same for them.