To Be or Not To Be, that is the question

At an early age, five to be exact, I was asked, 'Graeme, what would you like to do when you grow up?'
The lady enquiring was the next door neighbour. I'm fairly sure she was expecting me to answer with 'fireman', 'policeman', or some other job that would fit the norm for most people. I smiled, looked at her and said, 'I'm going to be an Artist'.

Well of course, every five year old says that when they have a crayon in their hand and a face covered in colour, but I really did know at that age what I was going to do for the rest of my life. Hence, the next thirteen years of great expenditure on my private boys school education by my parents seemed, even to me, to have been a waste of money considering I knew what I was going to do.
Much to the frustration of my parents, and to the very dim view of the teachers that would comment to my folks, "We think he's bright, but all he wants to do is draw all day and stare out the window at clouds".

You see, what happens in our society is that at the age of about seven, we're asked to put down our crayons and enter the left brain world; the one that operates our global system now. Yes, the one that unfortunately is taking us down a consumer path to self-destruction.
Studies have shown that at least 30% of the worlds population is right brained, but every single one of us is identified through the mechanisms of left brain teaching. Of course to be at least a part of our society these days, we obviously need to know how and why our world functions, and yes, this is when left brain teaching is important.

In saying that I perfectly understand why so many of us have difficulties in fitting into this world as well. I have met a number of people over the years that have suffered terrible depression, many even committing suicide, simply because they were educated in careers that had nothing to do with who they really were inside.
I am happy to say that in that time I was able to help some of these people find out about themselves through my own ability and story. There are so many people trapped in life styles and careers that suffer alone, simply because many years ago they were asked to put down their crayons and get sensible about life.
It's a bit like asking a black man not to be black and a gay person not to be gay. It is something you a born with, it is in your genetics and to deny it and the path that the universe has given you, is paramount to a personal jail sentence for the rest of your life.

One of our viewers asked me to advise her on how to become on Artist.

This is the first lesson. As Rene Descartes said many years ago: "I think, therefore I am". You all already know that you are an Artist and a right-brained person. You know that you think differently, you know that you have more compassion and feeling than others around you sometimes.
You know you question many things that the left brain world has told you to be true over the years and you also know that the one word that has controlled every day of your life, since putting down your crayons as a little child, is FEAR. Not to mention other peoples expectations of who they think you should be.
I think a good example of a woman that did not realize how talented she really was is Terry Jackson, one of the ladies that's been on our series. Terry only started drawing a few years ago and has reached the level of a Master Artist in that short time. All of her life she knew that something was missing but could not put her finger on it until the day she sat down and picked up a pencil and started to draw.
In that time her life has changed in so many wonderful ways due to the fact that she eventually said, "To hell with the Fear, I am going to do this".

In saying that, the intention of each of you finding and understanding your right brain is not about becoming a Master Artist. It is simply about the personal journey you take as an individual, hopefully a journey through creativity that helps you better understand yourself and the world around you.

That is lesson one. If you can free yourselves of the fear that controls you, then you will be able to begin to free your mind to learn more about your own abilities.