". . . a brush with nature"

"IN THE END... We only regret the chances we didn't take, the relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make." 

Lewis Carroll said that. Powerful, isn’t it? 

Those words can apply to any aspect of anyone’s life, and most certainly they can have great relevance to that of an artist or other creative person. It’s scary (sometimes downright frightening) to put your work “out there” for the world to see and, sometimes, criticize harshly. But we still do it. We share the work we feel driven to create. We submit to juried shows. We offer our work for sale. We explore new mediums, opportunities, venues and the like. We continue to challenge ourselves . . . or, at least, we should. Sometimes things work out and sometimes they do not, but we can certainly gain something from each new experience whether it turns out to be a resounding success or not. Even what initially might feel like a failure can be turned into a success if something is learned from it. (Side note here - I have found that something learned can be as simple as, “I have now tried this once and I am not going to do it again because it just isn’t right for me.” That is still a big win because it is something I now know that I didn’t know before.)

The take away here is to step up and accept challenges even though they might be scary. You really don’t know what you can accomplish until you try. You also don’t know what you’re missing out on.

And, please, don’t procrastinate. Time, and chances, pass by so quickly.

In the end, you will regret the chances you didn’t take.