Permission to forgive yourself…

During an interview on CBS TV, my favorite musician EVER, Billy Joel quoted Neil Diamond: “I’ve forgiven myself for not being Beethoven.” Billy went on to say that he needs to forgive himself for not being Beethoven who he has discussed in many interviews being his idol. Wow, that is profound. Billy Joel has done amazing things musically in his 40 year career and yet he still wishes he were Beethoven.

Friends, fellow artists and creatives, who have you not forgiven yourself for not being? Consider this post your permission to forgive yourself for not being whom ever it is whose work you idolize and allow yourself to be your own creative force!!! Use the work of whoever you idolize as a muse, an inspiration to do great work, but never beat yourself up because you are not Beethoven! I am sure Beethoven beat himself up because he was not someone else. I wrote about this last fall, but it is worth repeating. I LOVE the work of Vincent van Goh. I would LOVE to paint like van Goh did. And yet I have sold many dozens of commissioned icons in my life time while van Goh sold one painting. If van Goh were to have coffee with me today, he might be the one asking me how I managed to be so successful, in spite of the fact that I do not view my own work as being anything close to a success.

Me, personally, I need to forgive myself for not being Andrei Rublev, Claude Monet, Vincent van Goh, and any number of great portrait photographers.