The Fullest Expression of Who We Are
When the art we make is truly from the depths of our soul, it’s the fullest expression of who we are. We put everything on we have into it, heart on the line, blood on the page, dying empty type of work. When you’re done creating this kind of work you’ll experience two things
- A vulnerability hangover: The fullest expression of who we are is uncomfortable territory because we’ve been taught to avoid it our entire lives, as we’ve been indoctrinated. It’s the forbidden fruit. So will likely feel a bit shell shocked, hungover, and scared to death of what occurs. It requires us to go to the places we’ve avoided, our broken parts, our depths, and the parts we’re afraid to show the world.
- The Pure Joy that Comes from It: There’s a flip side to the vulnerability hangover that comes from this kind of work. I don’t really know how to explain it because it might be one of those things you can only understand after you’ve experienced it.
The fullest expression of who we are is about delivering something unexpected.
It’s about making art that touches someone’s heart.
It’s about leaving our hearts on stage.
It’s about finding the edge. As Seth Godin says “the edge is where remarkable lies.
It’s about giving into every ounce of genuine curiosity you have and seeing where it might take you.
It’s about letting your inner child play a few innings while your outer adult sits on the bench.
It’s about trying something that might not work, is filled with uncertainty and has no guarantees
It’s about sticking with something so far past when the average person would quit.
It’s about the willingness to be called crazy, delusional and out of your mind.
It’s about, as my friend AJ likes to say realizing that “there’s far more to you than could be expressed in a place with so many rules.”
It’s risky and it might blow up in your face. But there’s nothing quite like the thrill of the fireworks that happen when it doesn’t.
It’s what I call unmistakable. Only you could do it in the way you do. It’s got your name written all over it.
When we are fully expressed we are vulnerable, in a place where we dance on the edge of balance and imbalance. And being fully expressed is a habit, a practice, a commitment. We keep risking the possibility of falling, until we can stand fully expressed and in balance.
In a few weeks we’ll be opening the doors for our annual event, The Instigator Experience. It’s one of the fullest expressions of Unmistakable Media’s mission in the world.
