Suggested Audio ♫

The Beatles “Come Together”

 

The power of many far outweighs the power of one. It’s a no-brainer when you think about it. Together we can achieve so much more, make a great deal more noise, reach a far wider audience and be a part of something much larger than any one person could ever hope to. I feel blessed to know so many creative souls and seldom a day passes when I don’t happen across something created by another that inspires me. It’s a wonderful thing to possess a voice and even more glorious when a number of them can vocalize together in the same tongue. Whether writer, musician, artist or supporter of creation in general matters not; what truly matters is that we can come together in some way and share our passion as a collective without prejudice. This is why I have decided to try something which I believe could unite many for a common cause and I’m confident today that I can do something to bring a lot of good, hard-working and passionate people together under one umbrella. If others are on board and we are all prepared to pull in the same direction, then #CreatorsUnite could be set to become a genuinely beneficial network for so many and allow us to share our art fearlessly. Interested? Then I urge you to read on as what I am about to propose may well ring your bell.

I’ve been writing for four years now and dedicate virtually all of my waking hours to creation in one form or another. From the moment I wake to pretty much the one where my head hits the pillow, I’m working tirelessly on fine-tuning my voice as a scribe in the interest of sharing this with whomever takes an interest. My work is entirely non-profit, not through personal choice, but because my business mind isn’t nearly as evolved as its creative counterpart. This has been my cross to bear and bear it I have as I truly believe that perseverance is the key to taking my art to the next level. But I’m just one person and this isn’t what #CreatorsUnite is about. You see, while far from an avid reader, I glean motivation from a number of different sources and many of these do precisely what I do without monetary reimbursement. They share themselves using the God-given tools at their disposal and there is nothing selfish about their industrious nature, purely a drive to resonate on a wider scale and I openly endorse such lion-hearted endeavor. Should you commit to being an artist, then there’s a bitter pill to swallow upon commencement and it entails not having two red cents to rub together. Corporate business is there for those who wish to make a tidy mint, whereas choosing artistry requires a fair degree of financial hardship on our parts.

So why do we put ourselves through the rigmarole then? Well that’s elementary my dear Watsons as most of us I’m sure would agree that there simply is no other way. So many of us are high potential beings, and through whichever means, have sussed out our true calling in life. Being ultra-perceptive is both a gift and curse, and speaking from my own personal experience, it has taken me most of my adult life to appreciate the former. I’ve sacrificed so much more than I thought I was capable of surrendering, in order to chase a dream that never seemed feasible beforehand. I now know exactly what I was placed here to do, and while I could simply jack it all in at any given moment and take that 9-5, the prospect of doing so is utterly unthinkable. Accepting one’s fate is one thing, but accepting one’s gift and trusting that is quite another. It takes some fairly hefty cojones to make that call and courage in one’s convictions to push through any hardship en route and come out the other side still focused. We do so as there is no other way, not really, to become the person we were always intended to be. Having spent over twenty years in jobs that I could do on auto-pilot much of the time, I appreciate the potency of passion when it comes to going above and beyond.

My thing is the written word and this is where being a creative soul becomes so rewarding as it encourages me to scour my imagination for ideas. This particular tool is boundless, stretches as far as my motoring neurons can extend, and need never be bound by rules and regulations. I’ve had my fill of slapped wrists and verbal warnings and no longer have any great desire to conform to any one rigid template in order to express myself. By affording my mind the opportunity to run away with me, I’m always on the move some place new, and writing has delivered me to some fairly unexpected locales during the 48 months or so that I’ve been plying my trade. I’ve said this before but it always gives me a kick to reiterate – there are no budgetary constraints holding us back as writers, no studio meddling, no casting concerns, and therefore, no boundaries. In order to free yourself as a scribe, you must appreciate this small but critical fact as any limitations to prose are usually enforced by none other than ourselves. Creatives tend to be our own worst critics and are prone to beating ourselves up whenever we feel that they’ve not excelled in our craft. But the thing about quality control is that it is ultimately just control, and by relinquishing the shackles we place on ourselves, we can roam free and realize our true potential.

I seldom edit a thing when I post; other than the obligatory spell check as my keyboard has soaked in one too many sticky concentrates not to wreak mild havoc with my grammar. Often I have to read my work back to even grasp what I’ve cultivated; as the very moment I sit down before a blank screen, I call upon my inner ghost writer to deliver me from point A to wherever the wind carries me. Basically I’ve learned how to become a passenger and every time I put pen to paper so to speak, I’m supplied with a ticket to ride. This isn’t solely applicable to writers as we all do the same thing, regardless of how we choose to reveal our souls. It’s the only real way to flourish through art; to trust those guts and simply roll with each punch as there’s no better way to extend our reach and the results are bound only to surprise us. When we surround ourselves with such-minded people, those eyebrows are statistically more likely to remain permanently raised as none of us truly know what’s around the next corner. Self-belief is great, but collective swagger seems a far more attractive proposition, validating one another simply by accepting our place on a wider canvas.

I’m only too happy to share the work of others, but as those who know me well will be aware, the social networks we utilize on a daily basis don’t necessarily make it easy to play the game. So what do we do? Bitch and gripe? Too laborious. Scurry off into the corner to lick our wounds, hoping that someone provides us the back pat we feel we deserve? Way too pitiful. Be solution focused and figure out a way around each obstacle? Lighter work with many hands. Thus we all pull together, in a direction far from mapped out, and this is what makes for such an enticing proposition I feel. From the second I publish this article, I plan to begin using #CreatorsUnite as a calling card of such. Anyone out there who digs this angle are free to do the same and I truly believe that we can grow this into something truly monumental. I’m under no illusion that I could be pissing in the wind here as this concept cannot hope to thrive without the drive of others around me. Sounds like a challenge to me and I love a good leap of faith to get the blood pumping. If this flatlines, then what has been lost? Fourteen Twitter characters and a dash of dignity. I’m good with that; self-effacing comes naturally to me and I’ll gladly slip on the clown shoes if there’s a potential carnival at the tail end of play.

That said, this isn’t about just me. I wish to make that abundantly clear as I’m not looking to lead here, take credit for anything other than being one of the people. Indeed, the initial suggestion was actually made by a forward-thinking fellow creative whose vision resonated strongly and has duly evolved from there. I’m just punting it out there and seeing if that tickles some pickles as together I trust that we can fashion ourselves a formidable Trojan simply by pooling our collective fervor for art. It really is that simple and there are no do’s or dont’s aside from basic human kindness. Fuck insincerity and judgement, that kind of cancer can spread wherever else it deems fit but #CreatorsUnite cannot hope to prosper by accommodating such thriftless endeavor. Community spirit is where it’s at and I see plenty of that all around me every time I log into Twitter so I already know we’ve got it in us to give this the old college try. It’s a turkey shoot when you think about it; an effortless task when we’re already aware of how to network and do so on our default settings. As I already mentioned, I’m not proposing to be the shepherd of this flock, merely a man with a plan to get the ball rolling. Whatever happens from hereon in is completely out of my control and I love that as those boundaries are stripped away the very second this opens itself up to the elements.

Perhaps I’m little more than a collection of hot air and I’m comfortable with that if you are. Faith is most rewarding when blind you see. Granted, the drop is steep, but the exhilaration of being set down gently just prior to having your head dashed on the rocks more than makes up for it in my opinion. So what do you reckon? #CreatorsUnite has a nice ring to it don’t you think? Over the next few days, a group will be set up on Twitter and interested parties can be added to this if they so wish. In addition, any promotional tweets I post from hereon in will include this hashtag. Who knows where this could lead if it strikes a chord? I guess there’s only one way to find out but would rather focus on the infinite benefits of doing so and simply trust that gut of mine one more time. It got me this far after all and I wouldn’t have met any of you glorious creative souls without it. Besides, I’ve always been a sucker for group hugs.

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