The biggest obstacle I have had to overcome in my creative activities has been believing in myself. This has been my biggest obstacle in life across the board. Throughout high school, I won the award for outstanding art.  I could draw because nobody had told me I couldn’t. I just picked up a pen and went at it. You can call this confidence, but it was easy.  It was fun. There was nothing at stake. I didn’t think about the process of drawing. I just thought of the story I was trying to tell. I scribbled it down and gave it away. On a good day, that is how I approach art now.  I just grab a paintbrush and a color.  I have nothing to lose. I don’t need to agonize over a composition.  I don’t need to explain, because I am painting for myself and I understand. I can be kind to myself. I can surprise myself with happy little accidents.  They aren’t really accidents at all. The accident I most often make is underestimating any future viewer. It is in assuming they won’t derive the same joy I feel when I see it. If they don’t feel joy, it doesn’t matter. Their response won’t diminish mine. I’m an award winning artist because I just did that thing that I did for fun.