Where ART Lives Magazine Volume 2 Number 2 | Page 6

Letter from the Editor
March 2016
“You must be fearless and follow your heart. Look straight and ahead ignore
the naysayers, for they will always be there.”
That is the answer I gave in a recent interview to the question
“What are you learning right now as an artist?”
In all honesty, if I had listened to some of the well meaning NAYSAYERS
and SHOULD­ERS in my life, I would probably not be doing most of what I
am doing today.
Naysayers are the ones that tell you it probably won’t work out or can’t be
done (at least not by you). Should­ers are the ones advising you as to how
they think you should do what they think you should be doing!
It’s not that they don’t love you or that they don’t want you to be happy, or
that they don’t want you to succeed. Often their response to your dreams
comes from the disappointment of their own unrealized dreams. They may
genuinely want to spare you a similar fate.
The truth is, your dream is uniquely your own.
It was likely breathed into you in such a profound ,divine way that you know
in the deepest part of your heart that it is your path. It was not breathed into
them, they cannot see what you see.
Many cannot have the faith in you that you have in yourself until there is
tangible evidence of success. This can make for a lonely and scary journey,
especially in the early stages of honing your craft and growing your business.
I believe it is incredibly important to surround yourself with creative people
that are also on an entrepreneurial path. Some of course should be artists,
but they don’t all have to be.
They should be people that feed your creative spirit and energize you.
People with whom there can be an exchange of support encouragement,
and ideas. I am fortunate to have a fabulous network of creatives, comprised of Artists,
Photographers, Writers, Actors, Singers and Designers who in addition to
being incredibly talented and creative, are lovely genuine people. They truly
desire to do their part to make the world a better place.
We are all very busy so our time together is often tough to schedule, yet
once we commit we always leave each other’s company energized, inspired
and ready to go to the next level in some area of our lives.
If you do not have such a network I would encourage, even challenge you to
get to work on that immediately and once you have created these
relationships keeps your meetings near the top of your priority list!
-Kimberly Conrad
Editor-in-Chief
Owner, Where ART Lives Gallery & Magazine
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