When I started the #ShePersisted Series it was my quiet rebellion, my line in the sand, my statement of Enough. The time has come.

It was inspired by reading about how Senator Elizabeth Warren was treated in the Senate and deciding I had to do something.

My something came through creative expression.

I began with thinking I’d create a painting that stated in visual-storytelling my position.

One painting. That was all I intended to create.

And then, the muse kept visiting and whispering ideas into my head and I kept creating.

It tapered off over the past year, the compelling need to create more within the series. Not because the world had suddenly decided to rid itself of prejudice and inequality and discrimination and a host of other societal woes that keep people in the places that hurt them, that limit their possibilities and stifle their capacity to speak up and be heard.

That hasn’t happened yet.

For whatever reason it tapered off… it’s back.

The purpose to my creative expression.

I have always believed that life is creative by nature. The evolutionary path of our world has been driven by the creative impulse to create better.

In my life, visual and written story-telling has been at the bedrock of my self-expression. It is my pathway to fulfill on my desire to create better. It is my confidence-builder, idea generator and my ballast.

It is my North Star.

There was a time, especially in my 20s, when I tried to ignore my creative-drive. I’d bury it beneath trying to fit in, to be part of the norm, to appear like I was ‘playing the game’ in a way that made me more acceptable to the world around me.

It wasn’t until my 40s when I accidentally picked up a paintbrush and started to paint with my eldest daughter, who at the time was about 15, that I discovered the lie I’d always told myself (I have no artistic ability. I’m a writer not an artist) just wasn’t true.

I am an artist by nature and design. I am happiest when I am telling stories that inspire, not just verbally but in visual mediums too. And, no matter the medium, I want to tell stories that stir the pot. Stories that awaken us and connect us through our shared humanity to all that is magnificent and beautiful about our world.

And here’s what I realize after spending the past few days with the #ShePersisted Series…

It doesn’t matter if we are going through tough economic times, times of social or political change or the times of Covid or any other remarkable times. What matters is what each of us does, every moment of every day, to create better in the world.

And that’s where the #ShePersisted Series brings me to. That place where I am on fire with purpose and intention to stand up and speak up about what matters to me most.

And from where I sit today, surrounded by love and comfort, I must also acknowledge that the world outside my walls is not full of love and comfort for everyone.

And for my grandchildren to have a better world to grow into, I must not stay silent. I must keep standing up.

My grandchildren deserve the kind of world where everyone has the privilege of being seen and known and treated as magnificent human beings.

It is their birthright.

It is all our birthright.

Namaste