Letting go

I spoke to a friend of mine tonight.  She is a struggling artist, living in L.A.- one of the hardest places for an artist to live (I know this for a fact).  Not that being an artist anywhere else means that you don't struggle (another fact).

This girl has talent, let me tell you.  She has written for several magazines, she takes photos that feel familiar and tug at your heart strings.  She  is a designer.   She assembles, she collaborates, she creates beauty from mundane objects.  Her impressions linger in your mind and heart.

She has been let down, let go, and basically discarded by her community.  Her struggle to thrive, let alone surface, has been a constant thing for a decade, or so.  Things look up for a brief moment, and then look bleak the next moment.  Like riding a precarious craft through a torrential storm.  Black then gray.  Hell, we've all been there.

But today... today things are different.  There is a light on the horizon for her.  Her ability to remain, to continue, and make-do through the hard times is paying off.  She is seeing offers for her art from different sides of the spectrum.  Some are small, some have big buzz behind them. 

As we talked today, we both agreed that: whether good or bad, she needs to let go of what happens.  Just as the bad times were just a phase, so are the good times.  As soon as we grasp on to what we have, we watch it dissipate.  And we wonder why.  The old adage: If you love it, set it free, is so true.   We can prolong the good times by releasing our expectations.  Enjoy the moments, however brief.  It will only invite more good moments.  (This is tried-n-true.)

I encourage my friends to push for what they believe in.  Never cease to create what you feel in your heart to be true.  Always discard details and build from within.  We each have the capacity to do so, it is our thoughts that holds us back.