Artist Michelle J Bowden

I went to a seminar today about how to lead a better life.  

Passion came up as a concept.  It was pointed out that the real meaning of passion is pain.  So it made me rethink what I call my art.  I often say its my passion or labor of love.  

I am called a passionate person and sometimes called too passionate. Am I feeling pain?  In a way yes – the pain of rejection, the pain of being misunderstood, the pain of not being appreciated. Does art make this better or worse?

I say that art is not my passion it is my joy.  The joy of creating something from scratch is hard to describe to anyone who isn’t creating things. More people should feel this joy. 

So go out and create and experience the joy.  Then let your creation live its life and move onto the next creation.  Its when you stop and doubt yourself that the pain starts.

Art makes life a lot better.