These days I find myself worrying less about creating things to please others, and thinking more about creating things that express my point of view now. Exploring creativity in this way enables me to work more freely, unaffected by anything more than my own desire to move forward with my own process.

What this requires is honesty. Honesty with myself. And digging deep into a place where technical understanding, artistic ability and creativity join to produce the best of what I am able to produce.

But more than that, it is about the work. I am feeling my way through this stage with curiosity and a good deal of trepidation.

Because everything about the creative process and about growth and about facing who you really are and not being afraid to stand up and be that person is full of vulnerability and trepidation, isn't it?

Creativity is enhanced by vulnerability. Vulnerability comes from understanding one's own authenticity and living it as fully as possible. Authenticity comes at a price - and that price usually involves, in one way or the other, living - and feeling - the way through darkness.

There is nothing that darkness does better than clarify things. The pinpoints of light that present themselves in our darkest moments are the lights along our path to authenticity.

So when you fall, and when you are down, and when you think you might not be able to get up again, realize that the earth around your poor and tired self is the most fertile place you can be.

When you are down on that ground, the truth presents itself to you. The cold, hard ground is not a place you can run from, not when you've exhausted all of your escape routes. It is there that you will learn how critical it is not to stand up and move on, but to look up and to see.

To see exactly where you are.

And to see exactly why you are there and how you came to this point.

To see truth and to see that if you can forgive yourself for everything that got you there, the tiny points of light that you know are all around you in that darkness will get brighter.

You will be able to understand better what you need to do to move forward.

And then, just then, when you forgive yourself, you can take those baby steps to move yourself in the direction of those points of light.

And you can start creating what you were meant to create and you can stop pushing to do things that will make everyone around you happy except you.

It is about finding a way out of darkness, about forgiveness, and about learning to create straight from the heart.

This is resilience at its most personal and vulnerable place.