When creating art, I sometimes catch myself asking questions like: “What would people like to see? Will they prefer human or animals? This page seems popular, should I follow their style?”
All these questions are focused on other people and what they want. They are my people-pleaser attempt at trying to create stuff that will be acknowledged and accepted. It shows up in other aspects of my life as well. Do you also recognise it in your own thoughts and decision making process?
For me, I realise it stemmed from the false belief that what I have to offer is not good enough, that my voice and my message is not important. The want for people to nod their heads in my direction outweighed self-abandonment. Just stay quiet, do what they want, you’ll be rewarded.
That is not true. Sure, we can teach ourselves to be everything that people want from us.. but who are we when we’re on our own? It’s not as easy to fool our inner voice.
I hope we realise one day just how big this world is, with enough space to hold all our uniqueness. No one tree in the forest is the exact same. Perhaps with a generous magical dusting of ✨courage✨, may our inner voices sing joyfully, with a deep knowing that we stayed true to it.
