Because I have lived...

A good friend of mine, the amazing Sunny Carvalho (www.SunnyCarvalho.com) created a beautiful little porcelain doll with a quirky face and funny hat with the words printed across the front, "because I have lived." I have the doll sitting in my studio where I can see it everyday because it spoke to me for a specific reason. 
I've always felt it was important that my being alive make a difference in the world. So when I left my full-time job doing one-on-one behavioral therapy with children with autism to pursue art full time I had a bit of a crisis. I became worried that art was too "decadent" a career choice. What good was I doing in the world painting pretty pictures? Sunny's art doll reminds me that the world can be different "because I have lived."
On that same note, I'm reading a book right now titled Art and Fear- Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland. Reading it feels kinda like talking about the ins and outs of the art world with a good, wise, and more experienced (as well as sometimes sarcastic) friend. There was one part in particular that reminded me that my being alive changes things. "And so you make your place in the world by making part of it-by contributing some new part to the set. And surely one of the more astonishing rewards of artmaking comes when people take time the visit the world you have created. Some, indeed, may even purchase a piece of your world to carry back and adopt as their own. Each new piece of your art enlarges our reality. The world is not yet done."   I highlighted that last part because that was the main point. I wanted to tell the authors thank you for making me feel justified on one of those days when I don't feel very worthwhile and thank you, Sunny for my doll :)