Thank you for sharing that. Much food for thought.

I’ve been “lurking around” for a while now and absolutely adore your work and words.
This post really said a lot to me. I’m currently struggling with how to even attempt becoming successful at what I know my true passion is (in fact I just wrote a post about this very thing on my blog this morning). But I guess when it comes down to it, I don’t have to make a living at my passion – if I simply make art during my free time I’m being successful in a sense.
What is it about a child’s stare or gaze that can connect so deeply with us sometimes? I have experienced that so often in my life and it sometimes “haunts” me (not in a bad way) for days afterwards.

your sharings of what success truly is hit home deeply with me. thank you…i’ll marinate in your (and Pam’s) words.
i lived in berkeley and resonate with the essence of oakland you speak of.
continue to enjoy each morsel.

I find “succes” far too vague a word. I find “recognition” better. You can get your own, your peer’s, your family’s, your client’s recognition… There’s a lot of it.

I was in my studio last night… when I felt creative spirit asking me to stop. Just be still.
And part of me struggled ~ saying, but if I’m not creating, then I am not creative.
But again spirit asked me to stop creating, go to my couch, curl up and read.
So I let control go. I let go of what I thought creating looked like. I went to my red couch, curled up beneath the light and continued reading your book. It is DELIGHTFUL keri. Truly.
Art is our life created. A life created is our highest art. And sometimes creations don’t look like “creations” ~ they are these magic moments, filled with consciousness and colour and aliveness.
Blessings to you,
Leonie

today I feel like saying “fuck creations”
how does that grab you?

today I feel like saying “fuck creations”
how does that grab you?

today I feel like saying “fuck creations”
how does that grab you?

today I feel like saying “fuck creations”
how does that grab you?

Hey Keri,
When you get a chance, you’ve got some major spam going on on this page:
http://www.kerismith.com/blog/archives/000334.html
Ugly stuff.

One day this summer–I stood in the yard with the gren grass under my feet, sun shining on my face, wind gently touching me and going by–there was a sweetness to the very air. I stood with my face to the sky and arms out–saying to myself “remember this”. If I close my eyes right now and concentrate, I can be there again. What’s fame?

Lovely, simply lovely.
-Nicole

Thank-You thank-you! That was exactly what I needed to hear today. Yay for diving in and making messes and living and learning and loving all of it…even the “mistakes”.

WoW, Excellent post! Personally timely for me as well. Very, heartfelt and warm!

This is my art
This is art
This is
This

Saw your blog title via an IF participant… It was very instructive to get honest and describe to myself what success was… I realized that success wasn’t the same as “being good at what I do” exactly, nor was it only about cash-in-bank. A clear eyed view of what it did and didn’t mean certainly makes it easier to aim for.

you are amazing.
thanks for all the awesome ideas:D

‘I Like you a lot’ what great graffiti
have you seen the you are beautiful website link from http://www.harrumph.com

There are things happening in my art and life that are showing me that I imprison myself when I try to live without the FREEDOM to experience the moments. My perspective of success is changing day by day lately. I am looking at this as a blessing. Thanks for the inpiration!
Christine

welcome to oakland! we’re glad to have you.

It is funny how when one most needs to “hear” the words, they appear. Thank you, Keri.

hey Keri – just wanted to share this quote I’ve always likes about success:
“The definition of success–To laugh much; to win respect of intelligent persons and the affections of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give one’s self; to leave the world a little better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm, and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived–this is to have succeeded.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Seeing Spalding Gray with a guy I had a huge crush on in college was one of my perfect moments. Too bad his perfect moments ran out. I miss him.
I also adore Pam Houston, can you tell me where I might find the article?

If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal — that is your success. All nature is your congratulation, and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself. –Thoreau

Glad you liked Oakland. It rocks! We love it here. Your blog and website are an inspiration. I forward it to tons of people. Keep on truckin.

I hate the entire subject of success – our obsession with it – the coercion of comparison.
Why can’t we just be happy with being?

WOW! Absoluetly what I needed. So often, we measure success in all the wrong ways. I have been so inspired by this blog, it is beyond words. I visit here often, but have never posted before. This post, however warranted an occasion to thank you for being real. For being you.