The Van Gogh painting shown here (“Kornfeld Mit Zypressen”) accompanied an article in Pacific Standard Magazine entitled, “Come All Ye Failures – Though we wake in fear of mediocrity, let us cease to be crippled by it.” (http://www.psmag.com/books-and-culture/epic-fail)

“…the ambitions of our work, our projects, aren’t ours to impose. They are for us to discover. They are best discovered from a place that doesn’t self-judge or self-denigrate, a place beyond our own worst fears of not being good enough. That’s where we find meaning. And solace. That’s where we stop feeling like failures and start feeling like human beings.” (Christopher Cokinos)

As one who writes without expectation of formal publication or remuneration, I found this article by Mr. Cokinos helpful.  I have come to believe that my creative life is the expression of a gift and that, for myself and others, it needs to be offered to the greater community.   It is OK that my gift is simple, imperfect, or even just mediocre some of the time.  It’s taken me quite a long time to believe that I have this gift and that is enough.

The Van Gogh painting is appropriate. He, among all artists, created to save himself. In doing so, he saved so much more for posterity.  Van Gogh is, for me, as I suspect for so many of us, one of our greatest Muses.