I am worth the time it takes to create...

This classic piece by Jan Phillips has given courage to many, many people. So many of us hold back from creating, making things, expressing ourselves, taking time to noodle, doodle, dance and color–because it isn’t “productive” (we aren’t selling our work after all!). Even if we have committed to a creativity practice, there are a thousand little gremlins that pop up to tell us that we should be doing something else. This affirming piece should help. I hope it does. We owe it to ourselves and to our Muse and to the Spirit of Life itself to bring new things into our world!

Artist’s Creed

I believe I am worth the time it takes to create whatever I feel called to create.

I believe that my work is worthy of its own space which is worth of the name, Sacred.

I believe that when I enter this space,

I have the right to work in silence, uninterruptedly, for as long as I choose.

I believe that my work is joyful, useful and constantly changing, flowing through me like a river with no beginning and no end.

I believe that what it is I am called to do will make itself known when I have made myself ready.

I believe that the time I spend creating my art is as precious as the time I spend giving to others.

I believe that what truly matters in the making of art is not what the final piece looks like or sounds like, not what it is worth or not worth, but what newness gets added to the universe in the process of the piece itself becoming.

I believe that I am not alone in my attempts to create, and that once I begin the work, settle into the strangeness, the words will take shape, the form find life,

and the spirit take flight.

I believe that as the Muse gives to me, So does she deserve from me: faith, mindfulness and enduring commitment.