//Complaint. Delete. Moving On.//

I get this message every once in a while in my inbox that says: "Sorry, we had to delete one of your pins[...] this complaint is not against you or anything you did, but we would like to let you know why your pin is gone."

I had to stop and think about that for a moment the other day. While the complaint was for a picture that a copyright owner didn't want on pinterest, I ended up having an epiphany... Weird right? Who knew...

We, as humans, as creative souls thriving in the world of color and aesthetics, have things in our life which should have been deleted a long time ago. While they might not be "harming" you directly, they are destroying you in some way or another. While the "complaint" might not be directed at you intentionally, it is still there...

The question is: what exactly are these things that are harming us? What exactly are the things in our life that we should be deleting because they are not supposed to be there?

I don't think it's social media like most people have the tendency to talk about a lot. Yes, we have a problem with people being on too much social media, but social media has good uses. Don't completely rid of it. I don't think it's necessarily the people in our lives, either... While there might be negative people in your life, there is probably a reason they are in your life. Get away from social media and negative people if need be.

But the problem isn't with others. It's not with our cell phones or with our laptops. It's within ourselves. The doubt, the negativity and the lies we choose to believe.

The Complaints of Life

Many times we're tired. At the end of the day, the last thing we want to do is be creative. Because being creative, being unique and diverse is hard. It really is. We create excuses in our mind to not take photos, to not draw and to avoid that novel. We make excuses to not sit down and study or read a devotional. Often times, those excuses are "I'm not good enough and I never will be", "There's no point, no one appreciates it, anyway", "Someone else is better than me", "God doesn't really hear my prayers..."

We are our worst enemy. We kill our own inspiration, our own spiritual thirst and our own creative energy. We kill our artist voice. We choke ourselves. 

Ctrl. Alt. Delete.

Take that negativity, those lies and the doubts and throw them out the window. They're nothing but trouble. The thing is: you are amazing. Your art, your writing, your photography and your music is beautiful. It doesn't have to be spot on or perfect to be beautiful. If you put soul into something, then it will show. When you delete all the stupid thoughts you have, there's an overwhelming feeling of being secure in oneself and in Jesus. There's breathing room. 

Most of the time, we procrastinate because we don't believe in ourselves. We don't want to screw up. We don't want to be known as the "person who didn't succeed". But success isn't defined on what the world thinks of you. It's what you think of inside yourself. How you view your own success. Maybe just getting one novel published is your idea of success where as the world doesn't view successful writers unless you're like J.K. Rowling. 

Delete their voices. Delete your negative inner voices. Focus on your creative energy, focus on being yourself.

To Walk Forward

What next? Keep moving forward. Don't stop. Don't let anything stop you from doing what you love. Don't quit snapping photos, don't stop writing poetry and don't quit dancing if it's what you really love. Perhaps you're fixing to move out of the house and go off to college and on your own adventures. Don't forget about what you love. Don't forget about how you got there. 

There's a tiny percentage of people that actually follow their dreams. That don't let the doubts inside their head clog up their love for Jesus and for being unique. And sometimes, you need an "email" to tell you that something has been deleted. You didn't realize that that thought -- that you yourself -- was killing your creative voice and killing your dreams. 

In saying all that, you should check out these (becasuse I honestly can't figure out how to end this post...):
5 Ways Perfectionism Attacks Your Creativity -- Emily Tjaden, This Incandescent Life
Why You Shouldn't Wait for Inspiration -- Aidan Bender, Story Forger
How Do You Know if You're a Writer? -- Heidi Salzman, Life Tells a Story