You deserve to feel the artistry in everything you do.

You deserve to experience the hum of passion that courses in your veins when locked in a conversation with a total stranger.

You deserve to encounter the guttural vibration of anticipation when your eyes lock upon another’s — for the very first time.

You damn well ought to feel the exhilarating breath of sea-swept air that drops in from the blue sky upon a magnificent, new landscape — one that you’ll never see again, because other landscapes are awaiting you.

When I talk of artistry, I’m talking about how you deserve to live.

Artfully. Feeling God in every moment. Flowing in experience after experience. Touching the brilliance and beauty that life has to offer– now.

Is it an ideal? Surely.

Hyperbole? Maybe.

But unrealistic? Why should it be?

Life doesn’t wait for anyone. And your actions, thoughts, words and decisions won’t suddenly start honoring exactly what you want and need and dream of until you begin to honor them, today — finding the space, the time, a moment, a chance, a break in the clouds or a smile across the crowd to take a risk, to dare, and to let go of whatever comes of it.

“I dreamed a thousand paths; I woke and walked my own.” ~Chinese proverb

Time was, I woke in the morning with dread in my heart. I fell asleep that night depleted and defeated; worn and desperate for the space within my head to be cleared of those invasive thoughts and where, in slumber, my imagination could run free and dream.

A slow fade, the daze… A flash. 

And awaking once more.

I couldn’t do it for very long. I knew I’d never last. I knew I’d waste away into nothing living that lifestyle that drained me so heartily of any ounce of purpose or meaning.

And the honest truth is that I could afford to escape it. I had the privilege. The comfort and the opportunity. I’m not a champion or a survivor. I’m not an example or a leader for having left a lifestyle that I grew to loathe. The truth is that I didn’t need to suffer in that state of depression and unhappiness, devoid of the soulful longing that demanded I stand up, that I be me, that I put pen to paper, and experience where life’s journey wished to take me.

I’ve survived four years on this journey as a writer for many reasons: each of them as remarkably “human” as the next.

I’m talking about cornerstones that are fundamental to our human spirit, our soulful core — what we need as social beings who are here to live, love, experience and share.

When I quit my job in 2009, I needed the support of my family. I could have looked toward unemployment after my “strategic career shift,” but I chose against it. With their blessing, the moral decision was a burden my family chose to endure on my behalf and it gave me the opportunity to survive.

And then, in the couple of years of aimless meandering and searching and ten-dozen tried-and-failed ideas that would follow, I needed the understanding (and occasional “ball-busting”) of my friends — some of the greatest people I know in the world. My friends helped me survive.

And then there were other things that kept me afloat.

The creative journey is a continual endeavor into unknown circumstances and paralyzing fear — all for the sake of a listless desire, a relentless dream, a soulful calling to capture and share a slice of pure beauty.

That’s what the journey feels like for an artist.

You struggle for love. You struggle for joy. You struggle for happiness, contentment, and peace. But you say you’re not an artist.

I still call you one.

Maybe you’re not a writer or a painter. Maybe you don’t blog or want to run a business from anywhere in the world. Maybe you don’t feel creative or imaginative, artsy or talented.

But don’t you dream?

Don’t you dare yourself to face down the fear of the unknown before you?

Don’t you strive and believe? Don’t you idealize for your life to become what it deserves to be — for all the love that you deserve to feel? Don’t your playful thoughts wander and wish for lightness and ease?

Imagine if your creative lifestyle was rooted in the Hawaiian islands.

How would your creative journey feel different? Would you feel more love and presence living in Hawaii?

Would you feel more adventurous — or even open to new friendships, dating and relationships?

How would living and working from the Hawaiian islands inspire you? Change you? Challenge you to open up and *truly* live your life in ways that you dream of — but that you’re maybe holding yourself back from experiencing, today?

I want to know what you think, so I created a short 9-question survey for you.

Take five minutes right now and tell me:

• How would your life be different if you lived in Hawaii?
• How would your writing, art or creations change if you created them from Hawaii?
• How would the caliber and quality of your work grow if you wrote from this place of love, gratitude and peaceful perspective?

Answer this short survey to share your thoughts with me — and as a personal thank you, we will set up a time in the next week to chat on the phone one-on-one to discuss your ideas.