Creativity is personal. When people don’t like your work, it’s easy to fall into the trap that they don’t like you. But trying to blend in does nothing more than dull the edges of your work. Being yourself is a constant battle. But you have to keep fighting for yourself.Show Notes:* to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night & day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. – ee cummings, poet* You Are the Hero of Your Own Story – Joseph CampbellYou may not slay a dragon or save the galaxy, but you are the main character of your life.* Life Isn’t About Finding Yourself. Life is for Creating Yourself — George Bernard Shaw* Sometimes the Thing that’s Weird About You is the Thing that’s Cool About You. – Maureen Dowd, Journalist* Follow Your Inner Moonlight; Don’t Hide the Madness. – Allen Ginsberg, Beat poet, Activist* And Those Who Were Dancing Were Thought to be Insane by Those Who Could Not Hear the Music. – Nietzsche* Accept Who You Are. Unless You’re a Serial Killer. — Ellen Degeneres* Be a Hammer of Fresh Air.* I Prefer to Be True to Myself, Even at the Hazard of Incurring the Ridicule of Others, Rather than to be False, and Incur My Own Abhorrence. – Frederick Douglass, Abolitionist* Choosing the Freedom to be Uninteresting Never Quite Worked forMe.  — Diane Keaton* If You End Up with a Boring Miserable Life Because You Listened to     Your Mom, Your Dad, Your Priest, Or Some Guy on Television Telling You How to Do Your S*#%, Then You Deserve It.  — Frank Zappa, Musician & ActivistWelcome to Episode 16 of Navigating the Fustercluck—a podcast full of snackable insights to help you navigate the love/hate world of creativity.My name is Wegs, like eggs with a W, joining you from Deaf Mule Studios in Dallas, and whether you work in advertising, design, gaming, fine art, commercial art, content creation, whatever it may be, we’re here to talk about you. You being you. The best you, you can be. The you, you want to be. You got me?You got into creativity because you have something to say. A point of view that you’re passionate to share with the world.As blues legend, John Lee Hooker used to say, It’s in you. And it’s just gots to get out.And for those of you willing to put yourself- and your individuality -out there and on the line, I salute you. I really do.Because it ain’t easy. As the poet e.e. cummings said…To Be Nobody But Yourself in a World which is Doing Its Best, Night & Day, to Make You Everybody Else Means to Fight the Hardest Battle which Any Human Being Can Fight; and Never Stop Fighting.  Keep this in mind. People aren’t against you. They’re for themselves. And they’re usually not in favor of change. Why? Change is scary. Change is work. Change rarely comes without risk. So, don’t take it personally. We all have our own POV and story. As famed mythologist Joseph Campbell stated:You Are the Hero of Your Own StoryYou may not slay a dragon or save the galaxy, but you are the main character of your life.  So, when it’s all said and done, will your memoirs be worth reading?  If they do turn out to be noteworthy, there will have to be some reason why.  Something you felt strongly about.  Something you were willing to fight for, no matter how many obstacles got in your way.He Who Has a WHY to Live for Can Bear with Almost Any How. — Viktor Frankl, Holocaust SurvivorWhen you have a Why, you have focus, a purpose– your own personal North Star to guide you through good times and bad.  Your Why is your reason to get out of bed in the morning, and the drive that keeps you up late.  Each of us either has a Why or wants one. It’s your motivation and strength. And the material of which you’ll mold your life.