Give Yourself Permission to be Creative

It's not about saying something profound and amazing and unique, it's about saying something that's familiar/ Why set myself off as an individual with individual thoughts, when I can be a community with enveloping/embracing/familiar thoughts?

Why say things that "sound" good when you can say things that you love to say?

Play the fool.

I do not doubt that a hundred or a thousand or more people have blogged about this Ted Talk. They're all going to say variations on the theme, with your usual outliers. I'm adding my voice to that.

And part of me thinks of the futility of that: "What could you possibly be adding to the space that's unique or worth reading that hasn't been said before a hundred times?"

I'm trying to listen to the quieter sliver of me that says: "What could you possibly gain from adding something unique, or worse yet, stifle myself because you doubt the value of my voice? Join the conversation. Be part of this little community of people that were all moved by a fellow human being and just enjoy the connection. Best of all, play the fool. Play from the heart and speak thru love. Be ridiculed, be ignored, but don't ignore yourself."

Damn it, Ethan. You make life look so easy and yet I know how much you work for it. It's inspiring.