My twenty-two year old brother, James, has somehow in his short life learned a lesson that many never do. Since graduating high school, he has morphed from vocal performance major, to actor, to male model, to singer-musician, to artist; and is now somewhere in between the last two. Where will he be in six months? I don’t know, and I don’t think he does either. The point is he’ll be where he wants.
This past weekend, James had his first art show. At his show, he also performed a variety of self-composed songs. As he rotated from one song to the next, he also switched between several very different hats he had hanging on the stage with him. Apparently a different hat matched each of his different songs, perhaps signifying the different parts of him that he was openly displaying. As I sat and watched him, confidently swaying and singing, his face hidden under a hat sewn in the form of an “angry birds,” creature; I realized he had reached a place that none of us in the audience had. A brazen display of total comfort with himself, and everyone there could take it or leave it. Out of my five siblings, I am the only one with a degree, and the only one with one in fine arts. James however, was the one having an art show. I sat there, shocked at myself, wondering what I had let happen. Art was my life, and yet I hadn’t made a painting in close to a year.
It’s easy to make excuses as to why we don’t follow our passions. It’s easy to take the job that will afford us a comfortable, reliable paycheck. It’s easy to say that we are busy and time just gets away from us. What is hard, is having the confidence to bare yourself to the world, to your friends and family. There will always be someone rolling their eyes at you behind your back. James certainly has those, but he laughs at them. He knows that he is a part of the best inside joke. I want to be a part of it too.
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i adore this post!
Such a great post!
Thank you! I’m glad you both enjoyed it!
Good work on this piece, you have certainly captured James persona. However, you also have great talent, one of them being a very good writer. You will do very well with your talents and I don’t mean fame and money although that could happen. Just be yourself, it took me a lifetime to learn that lesson. My own drum doesn’t beat to the “regular” world. Love you very much. Grandma Maitland
what is LIFE? – what IS important? – sit on the floor in a dark (absolutely no light) place…no external sound (ear plugs if necessary); pad of paper & pencil/pen by your side; breath and listen — to yourself, heart, breath….and thoughts; write down what ever you want — what you don’t want to forget; then, when there isn’t anything more to write, just sit; do this every day; you will hear the answer.