Wake Up Your Creative Life... Your Gift May Not Be What You Think It Is

I just got back from Gidget’s ranch with a bounty of fresh cauliflower, lettuce, mustard greens, baby carrots and sweet tangerines.

 Our friendship began when I had this crazy passion to ride a horse in 1983. I had two young boys finally in pre-school and had the mornings free for my heart’s desire! Every morning I’d drop the kids off and head to the barn.

 Gidget and I would saddle up and ride for hours through the trails of Hidden Hills in Calabasas, and then go for a big breakfast of ranch eggs, bacon, and sweet herbal tea at the Good Earth Cafe.

As the years went by, Hidden Hills became more crowded with huge homes replacing the comfortable little ranches. Our once peaceful rides in the wilderness became a chaotic wild ride amongst building construction and contractor trucks. The once quiet sounds of nature were replaced with piercing nail guns and screeching saws. It was no longer a safe haven to ride.

One day, Gidget announced she’d bought 5 acres of land in the hills of a sleepy little town in Murrieta, a good 2 hours from LA. I was devastated. My riding buddy was leaving me, but off on an adventure to give vision to the next part of her life.

I didn’t expect what I saw on my first visit to Gidget’s new ranch. I pulled up and checked the address because I was sure I was wrong. She couldn’t possibly have abandoned the beautiful hills of Calabasas for this little trailer in the middle of 5 acres of dirt. I didn’t see one blade of grass, one hint of a new tree, not one bit of anything green anywhere… But there were her horses, happy as can be in the middle of this big field of dirt and rocks.

My friend had a secret vision that only she could see. Over the years, the artistic expression of that vision created something quite remarkable. Gidget’s ranch evolved into a vision of wonder. It is so beautiful, it is the highlight of the garden tour every year and the site of my wedding 4 years ago, and my daughter’s wedding last year.

What arose from Gidget’s love of animals, plants, and all of nature, was an artistic expression of such magnitude, when people visit, it becomes a destination to return, again and again.

Art emerges in many forms; it’s not limited to “art” categories like paintings, photographs, scultpures, or books… it can be 5 acres of dirt that come alive with orchards, vegetable gardens, lakes with swans, horses, goats, pot bellied pigs, chickens of all varieties, exotic birds, (including peacocks in all their glory); and a revolving door of rescued dogs.

 Gidget never bought a single creature, they all just arrived at the ranch as a safe haven and refuge for the animals who are lost, wounded, or no longer wanted. She restores and resurrects their ability to exist in nature. Some leave and return to the wild, and some live forever in the world of Gidget.

 What I recognized in my beautiful friend is that her art is not a thing to be traded or bought, she is the brush and the palette that paints nature’s canvas with beauty and nurtures it with love.

 No one can go to Gidget’s ranch and not be changed by it, and that’s what great art does. It transcends the ordinary and becomes something that transforms us.

People often categorize art as a thing with a monetary value, but art is really a vision that arises from within that has the ability to uplift and change the way people see the world.

Art is capable of restoring culture and an entire country. During the Great Depression, movies were massively produced! Everyone went to the movies! Why? Because it was the only thing that could spark joy and provide respite for the broken soul.

Artists work tirelessly to create something important and meaningful. There is something inside of you bursting to get out and that is the artistic expression of who you are. 

Your job is to figure out what your expression of art is, and do the work. It will reveal itself from your life, your love, and your passion. When it’s allowed to fully  bloom, it becomes your legacy.  

 Perhaps your art isn’t expressed in writing, or music, or painting. It could just as easily be the pie you bake for the widower next door, or the sweaters you knit to keep your little dog warm in the winter.

Your art can grow bigger by you working hard to make it the focus of your life. Maybe your writing turns into a book that can change lives, or the painting sparks joy in someone perusing your studio. Perhaps the pie you make is so good, you create a catering business around it, or the little doggie sweater is sold on your online pet boutique.

If you haven’t realized your art or your legacy… you’re not making it important enough.  When you discover it, you’ll wake up knowing. You’ll realize the flutter of excitement when the sun rises, is the joy you feel when you realize you  you get another day doing what you love.

If you follow your art, the world will take notice whether it’s one life you’ve affected or many. It doesn’t matter. You will know the moment someone tells you they love your song, your painting, your garden… or that your book changed their life. When that happens, you know you’re living your legacy.

Don’t wait to die to have a legacy. Live it now. Follow your art’s calling.