Stand Tall. Embrace Joy. Hold Love.

hold love.
Perfect words on a cup created by Rae Dunn ... a cup that we both loved as soon as we discovered it together the first night that Lynn came to town.

These are the words that kicked off the last two days with the one and only Lynn Whipple. Mistress of collage. Mistress of joy.

To observe her teach is to see joy in action. She loves what she makes and she loves helping others discover their art, and to make their own mark. And she celebrates everyone's art. I mean really and sincerely ... with genuine happiness for others' success.

In between the methods that she teaches, and the silliness she imparts, she teaches an important lesson. And that is that we don't have to try and be everything for everyone. We are who we are. And there are some people ... also known as "our tribe" or "our peeps" ... the people who "get us" and "get our art" and thereby love us and love our art.

Knowing this gives us confidence as we make and offer up who we are in this creative world. It gives us confidence to place value on our offerings that is commensurate with how we value ourselves. And with confidence, we know that there will be some who come by and look and walk on by as they continue to seek. And when they do, we can be genuinely happy for them as they find their tribe.

And as we continue to stand tall with confidence of who we are and what we make, our tribe will find us. Just the way we found Rae's beautiful cup. And when that happens ... as we are gotten by the ones who get us ... we celebrate and embrace joy. And we hold love.