Why I Keep This Publication Free
I want to thank all of my VIP paying subscribers!
THANK YOU!
For the rest of you wonderful people, it is time to send out a little fund-raiser pitch.
Why I Keep This Publication Free - and Why I’m Asking for Your Support
I said long ago that I’d keep this publication fully accessible to everyone. No paywall, no hidden posts. Just open-hearted offerings for anyone on the creative path.
Why? Because I know how much it helps to be reminded you’re not alone—that someone else has wrestled with the same doubts, setbacks, and flashes of wild hope. I’ve written nearly 500 posts with one intention: to support, inspire, and sustain the creative life, especially for those who don’t have a map or a mentor.
I’m a natural-born artist. There was never a Plan B. This is all I’ve ever wanted to be—and for a long time, I didn’t know how. I learned the hard way: through lean years, wrong turns, small wins, and deep discouragement. The biggest thing I’ve come to understand is this:
You have to make your creative life your lifestyle. Not a hobby, not a weekend activity, not something you squeeze in when everything else is done. It has to be the center pole that holds up your tent. Your inTENTion. That’s what gives the rest of life its shape.
Yes, we all have to pay bills and keep the lights on. But it’s dangerously easy to mistake survival for purpose. What I share here—week after week—is how to re-center your life around what makes it worth living. How to keep going. How to keep the faith.
When I was young, I didn’t have someone lighting the path ahead. In fact, an early art teacher once told us: “If there’s anything else you can do in life, you should do that.” That’s the kind of discouragement most artists face. Not because people are cruel, but because they don’t want to watch you suffer.
But here’s the truth: life is suffering. The Buddhists call it dukkha—not just pain, but persistent dissatisfaction. No one escapes it. But if you’re going to suffer anyway, you might as well suffer for something beautiful. Something meaningful. Something true. Something that pulls your soul toward wholeness.
If you’re an artist by nature, then your creative life is worth the pursuit. It gives meaning to the struggle. That’s what this publication is about.
If my words have helped you—even once—please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps me continue this work and keeps it available for others who need it.
Let’s keep the tent standing, together.
If you find this valuable, please become a VIP paid subscriber or even a founding member.
Ok that’s my elevator pitch (assuming the elevator is in a 100 story building.)
And one of your subscribers - namely me - would like to THANK YOU. I hope my testament will encourage others to sign up as a paid subscriber to your publication and any and all others that folks follow.