All too often we bury that fire that burns deep within us for fear of looking foolish or childish.  Like a dreamer who needs to “snap out of it” and join the real world.  The Rat Race.

It is that pressure to succeed in the traditional economy that dissuades the talented kid from honestly pursuing their art.  In some households creative career options are all but vilified.  Why?  Because it’s hard work, it is an incredibly subjective field and while there may be money to be made, those are for the “Superstars”.

There is a conversation that every six year old kid has with their parents.  They tell their folks that they want to be a singer, or a drummer, an artist or an actor and their parent pats them lovingly on the head and says, “Okay, but what do you really want to be?  A doctor?  A lawyer?  An accountant?  A public servant?”

“Stable” jobs  in the traditional marketplace.  You can’t blame them.  Those are good jobs and the world needs all of those things.

To their credit, most parents are afraid of their child being hurt and they want to provide them with the best the world can offer.  They want to give their kid any advantage they can for them to succeed in the world once they venture out on their own.  And unknowingly, in the process, the fire that burns deep in their heart is muted.

To those parents who want nothing but the best for your child, I hear you and I understand why you are hesitant, but there is no reason not to nurture both things in your child’s life.  They will be all the better for it.

As an aside, I recently went to celebrate a dear friend’s new career path and at the event her boss, a real estate agent, got up in front of everyone and blew us all away when she began to sing.  She was phenomenal – I’m talking goosebumps while I am recalling it kind of skill – and it struck me, once again, that you just don’t know what passions are burning inside other people.

I would just like to take the opportunity to say to those, who much like I did, are struggling with acknowledging that little corner in your heart that is ablaze, however small the blaze – the world needs you.  There are many people in the world just like you and they need to be inspired by you.

As Marianne Williamson so aptly put it:  “…as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”

If it weren’t for a particularly bright light in my life – and the subsequent gnaw in my gut (burn in my heart?), I don’t know how long it would have taken me to uncover that light, but I am very glad that I did.

It is my hope that one day I will be able to do the same for someone else.