Writer’s Challenge: Creative Branding

I’m almost finished with Jeff Goins’ 15 Habits Writer Challenge. Day 14′s habit is focusing on” branding“. I realized there are some unexplained holes in my story. Like, what’s up with the feather? What is my goal for sharing these thoughts? These all come from the brand I hope to build.

Mission Statement

I believe there is a unique power that calls every creative. It’s a whisper that just can’t leave them alone. When the time is right, the call turns into an scream, compelling them to act.  A creative’s thoughts and mentality are vital to transform an idea into a successful product.

A product is a reflection of the artist and process that went into creating it. This makes many give up on the creative thought process. It’s a hard maze to navigate, filled with obstacles. The fear of rejection and failure leave ideas abandoned far more than they should. These ideas are the foundation for mending the brokenness we see in our world. We need them to succeed.

As nearly falling victim to loosing the call, I learned that community can make this process a lot easier to go through. We can learn from each other, once we’ve made the commitment to let the unique power of creativity consume us.

To learn from each other (and ourselves) we must have some tough conversations. I want them to start here.

My goal is for these observations to encourage, inspire, and help you focus on your creative nature.

The Story of the Feather

The feather that you may have seen on my twitter and main page is a symbol of a turning point in my commitment to creativity.

To have an ideal vision is to have a dream.

I went out to the beach on a cold and blustery day to think. I was missing something in my life, and I hoped there was a sign to find it there. I prayed and thought for awhile. I was calmer after that, but still lacked clarity. I gave myself to a moment of stillness. Frustration was getting to heavy, so I took in the scene. I found myself discovering how beautiful this place was even though it wasn’t ideal.

The beauty of that moment touched the hoarse call in me, that I had been ignoring for so long. I noticed a beautiful feather laying in the sand.  Someone was talking to me in a language I could understand.

To back track a little, I really loved the film “Black Swan” and wanted to get a feather tattoo to cover an old scar. I became a little obsessed with feathers after that. Feathers were a symbol of the perfectionism battle that we face in society, and a reminder our humanity cannot win.

Seeing that feather delicately placed in the sand reminded me of the lessons I’ve learned from not being perfect. I didn’t know everything to get to the beautiful beach I was standing on. My place in life wasn’t a bad place. Like that beach, it was beautiful – just not ideal.

To have an ideal vision is to have a dream.

That’s when that feather reminded me of a quill pen, like the classic writers. A story I had played with for many years came to mind. It was in that moment I dedicated myself to writing it.

That moment has brought me to the adventure of living my dreams and owning my identity. I took a picture of that feather to never forget that moment. It’s still an internal debate about whether I will get it painfully etched into my skin, but I want it to be a permanent staple of what I stand for.