Can't Deny Your Struggle

Passion and purpose come at a price, they come with a burden. Though the two things are perfectly intertwined, they are two very different sides to the same coin. Purpose is permanent, you can deny it but you can't run away from it. Passion is fleeting. It comes and goes, passion comes in bursts, it is gratifying, but it at times is a weight, heavy and definitive of your struggle. The problem with the struggle is the indefinite nature of it. More often than not you might enter the struggle witha world of optimism, youthful energy and drive. But those things like all human natures are temporary.

I believe the reason purpose is coupled with passion is that passion is our God given source of sustenance in the struggle.

When I found my passion it caught me unawares. The memory of that discovery in itself is a fuel for my desire and reason for my ambition. For me there is a responsibility for the arts to inspire as well as entertain. From poetry, to theater and film, the arts require depth and a sense of self. Art like life requires connection, and connection requires giving. Art must effect change, more change in my opinion than schools or politics. Not all art is effective and if it was there would be no need for new art. But when art does effect you, even fleetingly, it comes from something real and honest. Be it art that makes you laugh till you cry, or art that makes you cry that solitary tear that you couldn't hold back because a moment gripped you, art that compels thought and provokes action. To be an artist is to be self sacrificial, to offer a part of you to a stranger, be you 10 feet from them or on the other side of the world.

I am an artist and I demand that of myself, that is my mission statement, to effect change! That is my desire, my passion and I believe my purpose. All purpose and all passion comes with struggle and the only way to fail is to deny your struggle, to try and put your struggle to the side. Struggle gives you a story, and your story is your art, your truth and the only way to actually feel your success. Success is when you look back and say this is where and this is where I am.  It is in your perception and acknowledgement of growth and the attitude with which you approach your opportunities to grow further.

The struggle is guaranteed, and the struggle is painful, because the result is not guaranteed, so your attitude is everything. The struggle is where you learn, where you grow and where your memories will be made and if you embrace you'll likely reach your purpose sooner than you imagine.