Sharing Your Gifts with Us
“Erma Bombeck said, “It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.”
The first page of the Bhagavad Gita translated by Eknath Easwaran says this:
“On this path, effort never goes to waste,
and there is no failure. Even a little effort
toward spiritual awareness will protect you
from the greatest fear.“ (2:40)
Dear Viewer….
Bernadette Banner “documents the exploration, reconstruction and interpretation of historical dress”. She is a is a YouTuber extraordinaire, but she didn’t start out that way, of course. I follow her on Instagram, and she posted this earlier this year.
She’s the best example I know of someone following their bliss and sharing that bliss, for no other reason than the bliss.
She’s since done classes and written books and done video shoots
Things she talks about are like a foreign language to me and I have no real interest, but I’m all in for all of it. She is specific and refreshing. She’ll ask things of her followers like, “What are you creating today?” But mostly, I love how much she loves her work. Years after putting herself out there for the first time, the joy in her face, the dedication to her expression and the joy in her face haven’t faded one bit.
I started watching a YouTube tarot reader eight years ago, who exploded last year and now has almost a million subscribers. Until this summer when he decided to splurge, he filmed every video using just his phone.
Speaking of that, comedian JP Sears recently posted a video with a behind-the-scenes look at how he created his very first video (barebones!) that went viral but that he thought would lead nowhere.
Danielle Steele has written hundreds of books and still releases seven books a year: "When I was first starting out, I had the same agent as Agatha Christie. I was about 19 years old and she was in her nineties. I met her once, and I remember she said, 'I want to die face-first in my typewriter.' And I feel that way. I mean, I want to go on forever, just writing."
I want to die face-first in my typewriter. Even if there had been no readers, she would have written.
Danielle LaPorte of Desire Map fame writes and speaks a lot about honoring our core values. I highly recommend that exercise, because we’re not “chasing” a thing or a goal, we’re all just looking for a way we want to feel. One of the best things I think she’s ever given her audience is her video, A Credo for Making It Happen. Every masterpiece ever made could have been better.
There’s an audience for each of us, even if it’s one person or even just us watching ourselves. But when I’m in the audience of people like these - with such incredible talent - I’m just so grateful they listened to and honoring the call God put on their hearts.
Two YouTube videos from Mel Robbins that I think are very helpful when we’re thinking of sharing our creative selves: