Share Something With Someone Today

My request is that you share something about yourself with someone today that you normally wouldn't share, or with someone that normally you wouldn't share yourself with.  I promise, the result will be freeing for you, and it will open up communication with the other person that you never knew could exist.

Openly Sharing, 16 x 48, Sold

Recently inspired by a FaceBook campaign to get artists talking about their work, I realized how much we artists have to share and often forget the road we traveled, getting us to where we are currently.  This campaign has created the opportunity to see my artist friends work and hear their stories. Causing me and others to know them newly and in a richer context of who they are as people and artists. Artists often have to come from a vulnerable space to create, then they have to have courage to put their work in front of an audience, knowing that human beings will always be judging and assessing... that is just what we humans do.

This makes me think about how we human beings, in general, don't share ourselves enough in an authentic way. By authentic way, I mean exposing thoughts and feelings in a way that is real with no fear or concerns of being judged. Why don't we share? We don't share for so many reasons;  we want to be liked, we don't feel like what we say is important, it can be uncomfortable to share, we want others to do the work, we don't have confidence, we feel embarrassed, we are afraid of what others will say or not say, we think we are stupid ... And it goes on and on.

Creating A Community, 40 x 30, Sold

When we don't share, we forget our own greatness and rob others of our contribution.  It is freeing and can be the greatest gift to ourselves to be known.  We also forget that it is in us sharing that other people can be inspired and called into action about what they can have for their lives.  To have no constraints in being able to express ourselves, leads to love with no constraints in all of our relationships. And for those of you, like myself, that tend to want to withhold their feelings, have the courage to be open and straight with people. Remember, people like a straight shooter, they know where they stand, and you get to the experience of being true to yourself. 

The Artist 3x5 Challenge on Facebook consists of artists nominating other artists to share 3 of their works for 5 days. I think it has been beneficial for getting to know artists better and also created a sense of community with artists. 

Some of my artists friends that I have enjoyed getting to experience their work during the Artist 3x5 Challenge on Facebook are: Rip Caswell, Buzz Siler, Flora Bowly, Martin Burch, Theresa Andreas-O'leary, Juliette Crane, Jeni Lee, Katherine Treffinger, Paulette Insall