I don’t remember wanting to be creative, or deciding to be an artist. I think your consciousness sort of grows as your brain develops. The lines are blurred, and to realize anything is to realize that it’s already happened, or started happening a while back.

I must have been very young when I first held a crayon, and touched it to some paper. I don’t remember. I must have liked it, because I kept doing it.

By the time I realized that I wanted to do it, I suppose, I was already doing it. I liked it better than I liked other things. More than math or spelling.

I think creative people get comfortable with art the way other kids got comfortable with numbers or labeling maps. People in all fields are creative, even if they are not all artists. Creative scientists discover new truths about the universe, or develop new medications or procedures.

Creative people pay attention.

People who are not creative kind of live on the surface, watching movies made by creative people, and following trends rather than being innovative. Maybe they look at the work of creative people and say to each other “imagine doing that.”

I’m not trying to be exclusive or judgmental. I’m not saying everyone should be artists. Everything I have experienced influences what I create. This includes training, but I don’t believe training is necessary in order to create art.

I believe we’re all creative in our own way. We’re enough as we are. We also have the ability to learn new skills, especially if there is a reward in it.

For me, the reward is in telling my story through words and pictures. I acknowledge and validate myself, and in the process, I gain new insight and forgiveness.