If you hear a voice within you say
you cannot paint, then
by all means paint and
that voice will be silenced.
~Vincent van Gogh

Write because you want to communicate with yourself.
Write because you want to communicate with someone else.
Write because life is weird and tragic and amazing.
Write because talking is difficult.
Write because it polishes the heart.
Write because you can.
Write because you can’t.
Write because you’re trying to figure yourself out.
Write because you might not ever figure yourself out.
Write because there still aren’t enough love poems in the world.
Write because there is a blackbird outside of my window right now
 and oh my God isn’t that the best start to the day?
~I found this on Amy’s The World is a Book blog,
and Amy found it at Pho Trablogger’s.

We are made in the image of God, the Creator of all life as well as the earth and the moon and the stars and the sun and the planets and the galaxies and the oceans and the trees and the forests and on and on and on all that Yahweh made goes. So I can’t help but believe there is indeed an internal voice in each of us that can only be silenced when we find an outlet for our creative urges. What holds many back I think is the fear that someone else will not like what they do and/or will laugh at them. But who are others to judge anyone else’s voice and its calling? Instead of simply watching and judging, everyone needs to be finding his or her own calling and begin silencing his and her own voices.  But then that takes courage and work while being an uncharitable “critic” requires neither of those things. The only ones we need ever please are ourselves and He who created the “voice” and its calling. So sing or write or paint or whatever it takes to silence not only the “voice” but also to fulfill your purpose.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ~Genesis 1:27   ✝

**Images via Pinterest