Finding someone to support your art is a tough thing sometimes. As an artist, the sensitive side of us often longs for the people around to show interest and enthusiasm and belief in what we are doing. It is that soft place to fall when we hit a low point, when we doubt our creativity and vision, or like I do, hit writer’s block.

For me, I long for honesty and feedback, and genuine interest, in what I am doing. That is the kind of support that matters more to me, more than blind enthusiasm which often comes off as placation. But, that kind of support is not always found in those closest to us, so we have to rely on our own persistence and drive to fuel us, or look further outward for other voices to remind us to keep going. For me, I find that most often in other artists.

Fellow writers, visual artists, musicians, actors are my cabal of support, my artistic family. It is those people who make me want to keep writing and whose occasional nudge, or sometimes hard kick, keep my head and heart in the game. I think that is why sharing others work is so important to me, writing about it, putting it out there for others to experience, whether in the form of a song of the day post, like this one, or a review, or an interview.

We artists have to stick together and remember to support each other. Our voices and our spaces in this virtual world are vital. Collaboration, celebration, kind critical evaluation (kindness is key, remember we all have the sensitive soul of the artist), and connection are keys to success. I do not think I could write without all of that. Music and art and film and books and television and theatre they are my muses, and those that create all of it, I am drawn and driven to sharing them here. It is my way of saying thank you, and it is my way of recognizing their significance in my life.

In many ways, the art that I share here, the creators of it all, are collaborators to my craft, to my writing. And you who read what I put up here, and you who reach out and offer feedback, you are partners to my writing, you are my Johnny to my June, my Gram to my Emmylou, my  Henry, or June, to my Anais.

Emmylou :: First Aid Kit