Not every body has the privilege of earning a living from their creativity but that doesn’t make you less a creative. Working your gift is like breathing, you need it to connect with yourself and to feed your joy. So are you a banker who is really a dancer at heart? Join a dance class or start a dance group or find a way to include dancing in your life….OFTEN. I don’t believe every gift must be monetized so don’t feel pressured to be a professional dancer or worst still go into a self sabotaging mode of thinking you can’t dance anymore because you are too old to. Some gifts are just for you to enjoy and when you enjoy your life you inevitably touch more lives. 

Then we have those of us who are creative entrepreneurs. Business is commerce and every creative knows commerce and creativity are not always in sync. Commerce is guided by what the consumers want, creativity is selfish… it’s all about YOU. So even as a creative entrepreneur find another platform that is non profit, that is all about expressing your gift, undiluted you!!! I don’t care how much money you make, you NEED this. For me it’s writing. When I am tired I write, when I am overwhelmed I write, I have been writing since I was 9years old and it’s my creative outlet… it keeps me sane. Find your own safe place, not hindered by the pressures and demands business puts on your gift. Find it fast and then go there often.

Be true to yourself. I know this sounds cliché. It’s great advice for everyone in general but for the creative it’s EVERYTHING….. It’s our life line. I would even go a step deeper and dare say I WILL RATHER BE TRUE THAN RIGHT!!! Being authentic for a creative is life itself. Deny us this? And you have pushed us on an inevitable path to depression. As a creative though, it is your responsibility to protect your authenticity. Don’t you dare give that power to anybody. It might cost you popularity and even business but true wealth is beyond money…. true happiness is in the freedom to be our authentic self.