Abandon All Hope

We all have hopes. They come in varying sizes and degrees of magnitude.

But our hopes die with us. It's what we do that has any impact, that has any lasting impression. Imagine if Ghandi, or Mother Teresa, or Martin Luther King Jr. only hoped they could change the world. Imagine if Van Gogh or Sureat only hoped to one day pick up a paint brush, or if Mozart or Clapton only hoped to play music. They didn't hope. They did.

A few years ago I barely even hoped to be an artist. I shoved it away... I didn't have the skills. There was no way it could happen. What uniqueness did I have to offer? Why would anyone care? There's already such a flood of (unwanted) artwork in the world. Then came a day when I simply had to paint. I had a feeling and a vision that was just too much for me to contain. I didn't really think I could make it work on canvas, but, I thought, what did I have to lose? So, I picked up a paint brush and a few other supplies, and went to work.

That was less than two years ago. Two years! In the past six months I've sold seven paintings, without even really trying. I mean, I don't have an exhibit anywhere. I've yet to be written up in the New York Times (much less the Snohomish Weekly) as an up and comer. So far Oprah hasn't bothered to call. It doesn't matter. I'm selling paintings. Let me say that again, because I hardly believe it myself. I'm selling paintings!

I'm convinced that the sole reason for that is because I gave up hope. That's right. I quit hoping and started doing. I became a Doer.

Has it thrown me into the next tax bracket? (What comes after abject poverty, anyway?) No. But I believe greater things are coming, and coming fast. Because I'm doing.

When your hopes become passion-driven, they become tangible things, and those things get done. When things get done, passion is further fueled... the world around you will change. What you need will come your way because you have, in effect, made yourself a magnet.

Trust me on that. This morning I almost said, "I'm too busy with art to bother blogging." It made me laugh in a rather victorious way... because I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a lot busier. (No worries, I'm not about to give up blogging!)

So... how about it? Abandon hope (Hope is really tired of taking all the heat anyway)... become a Doer!